Ham in Coca-Cola

I rarely drink Coca-Cola. Every time I drink it I can practically hear my dentist telling me that nothing rots teeth like Coke. I'm not sure if that's true, but it certainly worked as a scare tactic on me.

I usually glaze baked ham in beer and pineapple. Sounds totally weird and disgusting but it works and it tastes good. However recently, when flicking through Nigella Lawson's How to Eat, I noticed the recipe Ham in Coca-Cola. Trashtastic!

I recently had some friends over for an early Christmas get together and I decided to try Ham in Coca-Cola. It was dead easy and yummy. Of course it's yummy - the Coke infuses the ham with syrupy, sugary goodness!

Ham in Coca-Cola (inspired by Nigella Lawson)

2 Litres Coca-Cola

Onion

Star Anise

2kg ham (I always buy a leg of ham that has the hock in it so I can turn it into pea and ham soup)

Brown sugar

Mustard

Cloves

Quarter the onion and pop it in a large stock pan along with the Coca-Cola, star anise and ham. Put the pot on the stove, bring to the boil and then reduce the heat. Let the pot simmer for about an hour and a half. I found that the 2litres of Coke only partially submerged the ham so every half hour I came and flipped the ham so it got a nice soaking all over.

After the ham has simmered take the ham out of the Coca-Cola and leave the Coca-Cola mixture and ham to cool.

When the ham has cooled enough so you can touch it, place the ham on a wire tray on a baking tray. Put a bit of water in the bottom of the baking tray. (This is to stop the horrible burning smell when the glaze drips onto the bottom of tray.)

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Remove the layer of fat on the ham and score the top part of the ham to make a diamond pattern.

In a bowl mix together about 100 gms of brown sugar, a squirt of mustard and a tablespoon or so of the Coca-Cola mixture to make a paste. Slather the paste over the ham.

Stud the diamonds of the ham with cloves.

Bake in the oven until the glaze makes the ham a lovely pinky, goldeny colour, approximately 1 hour.

Leave to rest and cool before serving.