So seven years ago I saw a recipe from Matt Moran, the executive chef at Aria, for a glaze for your Christmas ham and I decided that was it, I was going to do a warm glazed leg of ham for Christmas. It was a first. That is shocking I know, but I do not recall ever having warm ham EVER before that date. Sure, there was ham served at family Christmas gatherings, but it was always cold and I never recall seeing a whole leg in any form of presentation whatsoever. True story. I know. Sometimes even I am surprised I can boil water coming from that culinary wasteland.
So I’ve now done a glazed ham every year. Normally our local butcher delivers the goods, but this year we went all out and got a kurobuta leg from the GOD OF BUTCHERY, Vic’s Meats. It was in a completely different league of SENSATIONAL.
Maple glazed leg of ham
Matthew Moran, Aria
- 1 leg ham
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp mustard powder
- 1x410g can of pineapple rings in natural syrup (optional)
- Preheat oven to 180C
- Gently coax skin off the leg, leaving the fat intact
- Score the fat into a diamond pattern and stab a clove into each corner
- Cook the ham for 45 minutes
- Mix the glaze ingredients together, place the pineapple rings on the ham and then pour the glaze over the ham
- Cook the ham for a further 45 minutes, basting occasionally
- Eat eat eat.