Christmas! Ham! Christmas Ham !

No big meals cooked in my kitchen this Christmas. Dinner on the 25th was at Mums, as usual. However, we DID have guests on the 27th , so it was into the kitchen for some buffet food. Aside from the usual nibbles, I was particularly proud of my Baked Christmas Ham With Sugar and Mustard Crust. It tastes amazing and I strongly recommend you try it ...
I soaked the ham for two days in regularly changed water, to leach the salt out (didn't do that one year and it was well, salty) . Boiling the ham next in a stock base of celery, onions, carrots and bay leaves. In the meantime, I prepared the glaze by mixing together two teaspoons of dijon and english mustard, with 25g of butter and 300g of dark muscovado sugar, ground cloves, ground ginger and ground cinnamon (note: next time I'm doubling up the mustard). The recipe calls for 20-odd cloves, but I find that the taste becomes too medicinal, so lay off the cloves unless you're really fond of them.
Pre-heated oven, 200 degrees, smear the paste over the ham  and throw it in, making sure to baste at least twice. The glaze is REALLY sticky and goes like a treacle, but its SO worth it.
After about 20 minutes, one last baste and then back in for ten. Finally remove the ham and slowly baste as it cools, it gets very very sticky but hardens to an impressive glaze. (make sure you wash the pan/bowl right there and then otherwise you'll come back to something like concrete in the morning, trust me...)
The casing of sugar and mustard is crisp and tasty, it seeps into the meat and leave a delicious aftertaste...just right for Christmas ... it's so good that one of my fans stated that the chutney it was served with actually detracted from the taste - so there you go...!