Nigella's Coca Cola Ham

Haven't done this yet...This Nigella recipe is taken from her popular Channel 4 series Nigella Bites, based on her popular book How To Eat. Serves 8

Ingredients

• 2kg mild-cure gammon
• 1 onion peeled and cut in half
• 2 litre-bottle coke

The glaze

• Handful cloves
• 1 heaped tbsp black treacle
• 2 tsp English mustard powder
• 2 tbsp demerara sugar

Method: How to cook ham in Coca Cola

1.I find now that mild-cure gammon doesn't need soaking. If you know that you're dealing with a salty piece, then put it in a pan covered with cold water, bring to the boil then tip into a colander in the sink and start from here; otherwise, put the gammon in a pan, skin side down if it fits like that, add the onion then pour over the Coke. Bring to the boil, reduce to a good simmer, put the lid on, though not tightly, and cook for just under 2 1/2 hours. If your joint is larger or smaller work out timing by reckoning on an hour a kilo altogether, remembering that it's going to get a quick blast in the oven later. But do take into account that if the gammon's been in the fridge right up to the moment you cook it, you will have to give a good 15 or so minutes' extra so that the interior is properly cooked. Meanwhile preheat oven to 240C/gas mark 9.

2.When the ham's had its time (and ham it is now it's cooked, though it's true Americans call it ham from its uncooked state) take it out of the pan but DO NOT THROW AWAY THE COOKING LIQUID (great stock for soups or gravy) and let cool a little for ease of handling. (Indeed you can let it cool completely then finish off the cooking at some later stage if you want).

3.Then remove skin, leaving a thin layer of fat. Score the fat with a sharp knife to make fairly large diamond shapes, and stud each diamond with a clove. Then carefully spread the treacle over the bark-budded skin taking care not to dislodge the cloves. Then gently pat the mustard and sugar onto the sticky fat. Cook, in a foil lined roasting tin for approximately 10 minutes or till the glaze is burnished and bubbly.

4.Should you want to do the braising stage in advance and then let the ham cool, clove and glaze it and give it 30-40 minutes, from room temperature, at 180C/gas mark 4, turning up the heat towards the end if you think it needs it.

5.This is seriously fabulous with anything, but the eggily golden sweetcorn pudding that follows is perfect: ham and eggs southern style.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Roast duck

25.12.09: Very good recipe. Our 2kg duck was cooked beautifully and really moist on Christmas day 2009. The gravy was very tasty but exceedingly rich. Decided to add a small amount of chicken gravy mix to the gravy to thicken it up. Very tasty. Had it with roast potatoes, roast parsnips, honey glazed carrots (carrots cooked in butter, honey, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper) and Brussels sprouts.

Hugh: "There's a bit of a knack to roasting a duck but it needn't be too anxiety provoking. Better, I think, to embrace the more old-fashioned English notion of a roast duck, with the skin nicely seasoned and crisp and the meat cooked right through. Like pork, duck meat is flavoursome enough to be appetising even when a little overcooked, and the natural covering of fat that you get with a good farmed duck keeps it lubricated. The crispy skin, of course, is priceless."

Ingredients

• 1 large, fresh duck, free range and preferably organic, with neck and giblets
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the giblet stock/gravy:

• The neck and giblets, and wing tips
• 1 small onion
• 1 celery stick
• 1 carrot
• A little oil
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 small glass of red wine
• ½ teaspoon redcurrant jelly (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/Gas Mark 7. If the duck is tied up, untruss it - i.e. cut the strings and gently pull the legs apart, away from the body. This will help the heat to get at them.

2. Cut off the wing tips (the last bony segment) - there's no meat on them and they will boost the flavour of the giblet stock. Make this first: roughly chop up the neck, heart, gizzard and wing tips, plus the onion, carrot and celery. Fry these over a fair heat in a little oil until the meat is nicely browned and the vegetables slightly caramelised. Transfer to a saucepan with the bay leaf, cover with water (about 600ml) and bring to a simmer. Leave at a gentle simmer for about 1¾ hours - i.e. the time it takes to cook the duck.

3. Now tackle the duck. Remove any obvious spare fat from inside the cavity. You can, if you like, turn the duck breast-side down on a board and press hard on the middle of the backbone until you hear a crack, it means that when you turn the bird breast-side up again it sits flatter in the pan, which helps it to cook more evenly.

4. Now, using a needle, prick the skin all over the fatty parts at the breast and where the breast joins the leg. Don't prick deeper than is necessary just to pierce the skin. You want the fat to run, but not the juices from the meat. Season the skin lightly with salt and pepper.

5. Put the bird in a roasting tin. Place into oven for about 20 minutes, so the fat starts to run. Then turn the oven down to 180°C/Gas Mark 4, baste the bird and return to the oven.

6. Baste the duck every 20 minutes or so. Check the bird for doneness after about 1½ hours' total cooking time. Poke a skewer into the thickest part of the leg, close to the breast. When the juices runs clear, the bird is done. Tip the bird to pour any fat or juices out of the cavity into the roasting tin and transfer it to a warmed plate or carving tray.

7. Now fix the gravy. Carefully pour off the fat from the roasting tin into a heatproof bowl or dish, leaving the brown juices in the tin. Deglaze the tin with the red wine, scraping to release any tasty browned morsels. Strain the giblet stock and the deglazed pan juices, into a clean pan and boil hard to reduce them to a rich, syrupy gravy. Taste for seasoning, and add a little redcurrant jelly for sweetness, if you like.

8. To carve the bird for 4 people, slice between the legs and breast, then prise off the whole legs, carefully pulling the thighbone away from the body of the bird. Cut each leg in half at the joint between the thigh and the drumstick. Slice each whole breast from the carcass, with the crispy skin attached, then cut each breast into 5 or 6 thick slices. Offer each guest a few slices of breast, with either a thigh or a drumstick. Serve on warmed plates, with the gravy and some roast vegetables.