Once, we produced a special Thanksgiving episode of One Chef One Critic. Our guest was Rev. Kelly Hudson, who at the time was Minister at George Street United Church in St. John’s. We spoke about the needs of homeless and less fortunate individuals. Rev. Hudson knew quite a bit about the topic since, for years, George Street United has operated a marvellous outreach program for street people. It involves a dedicated group of volunteers cooking hot meals for the homeless on a regular basis. For this episode we chose to cook old-fashioned baked ham, but with a special ingredient – tea.
Ingredients
- 1 whole leg of ham
- whole cloves as required
- ½ cup (125 ml) grainy mustard
- 1 cup (250 ml) light brown sugar, packed
- 2 tins pineapple slices in juice, 14 oz (398 ml) each
- maraschino cherries as required
- 1 cup (250 ml) golden raisins
- 4 cups (1 L) brewed tea
- 4 cups (1 L) ginger ale
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) cornstarch
- ¼ cup (60 ml) water
- wooden toothpicks
How to Make It
- Remove skin from ham and score fatty top into a diamond pattern. Place ham on a rack in a baking pan, fatty side up. Stud with a clove in the centre of each diamond. With a pastry brush, spread grainy mustard evenly over the ham. Next, sprinkle evenly with the light brown sugar. Drain pineapple and set aside ¼ cup (60 ml) of juice. Arrange pineapple slices with cherries in their centres over the top of the ham, securing all with toothpicks. Add raisins, tea, and ginger ale to the base of the pan. Cover with aluminium foil and bake at 325 F (165 C) for thirty minutes per 1 lb (454 g). Baste occasionally. Add more tea and ginger ale if needed. Remove foil covering for final hour of baking. For the Sauce
- Skim excess fat from pan juices. Heat reserved pineapple juice with ¼ cup (60 ml) raisins in saucepan. Add baking pan juices. Thicken using cornstarch mixed with water.
- Slice ham and serve with the pineapple raisin sauce.