Thanksgiving was last week, and unfortunately - mid-November not being considered part of the festive season here, and there being, therefore, no reason for them to be available - no turkeys were to be had, even for ready money. We discovered the day before the Big Feast that we could have ordered one, but this required a few days' notice. Instead, we decided to have a Thanksgiving Ham. We modified our standard cornbread stuffing recipe by adding a little orange zest to it, then bedded the ham down on that. Smothering it in a gingery apple sauce, and then blanketing everything in bacon, all elements came out moist, basted and richly delicious. Paired with sweet potatoes, broccoli, basil carrots and baking powder biscuits, this was truly a Big Feast (as Little Bit calls it), enjoyed as a family.
Ingredients.
1 smoked ham (ours was roughly a kg)
8 - 10 rashers of bacon
1 - 1 1/2 c apple sauce
~ 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
5 c stuffing
1) 3/4 fill an oven-proof dish with the stuffing of your choice. Make a small hollow in the centre and nestle the ham in it. Smother the ham in the apple sauce and grate ginger over the top. Lay bacon over the whole.
2) Roast at 165°C for about 3 hours. Allow to rest for 15 minutes before carving. Enjoy with trimmings!
We all agreed that the ham stood in nicely for the turkey at our Thanksgiving dinner and that this was a cooking method to be added into the rotation. The apple and ginger imparted a subtle but discernible and tasty note to the ham, which matched well with the orange note in the stuffing. Bacon was bacon, and therefore not to be argued with. Everything was moist and delicious. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
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