A stunning glaze for any kind of holiday special, accompanied by potato-pumpkin fritters and blue cheese dressing. This is a perfect combination of the cranberry sweetness, pumpkin Rösti and a blue cheese. Get inspired and create your holiday spirit – Glazed Smoked Ham with Pumpkin Fritters.
Which product resembles the Fall the most? Perhaps Pumpkin.
Winter Squash, Butternut Squash and Hokkaido. This product is truly very healthy and offers so many variations and techniques in desserts, soups, pastas, risotto and breakfasts. Simply everything you can imagine and create. Choose a suitable pumpkin and have a joy with it. The common rule of the ripeness of a pumpkin: heavier pumpkins with old brown stems and cracks around it. Do not buy shiny pumpkins, that means they are young.
The tools I would definitely recommend: a good sharp knife and a vegetable peeler.
Glazed Smoked Ham with Pumpkin Fritters – Let’s start!
Total Time: 2 hours
Shopping List
400g of butternut squash (thinner part), washed, peeled, cleaned and grated
400g of potatoes, washed, peeled and grated
2 whole eggs
A pinch of cumin
Sea salt
1 teaspoon of satureja, coriander and sage
100g of plain flour, sifted
Olive oil for frying
Cranberry Glazed Ham:
800g of good quality smoked pork ham
2 teaspoons of Five-Spice Powder
100ml of good quality whiskey
2 tablespoons of cranberry marmalade
A splash of Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon of Dijon Mustard
1 tablespoon of cane sugar
Olive oil
Blue Cheese Foam:
50g of good quality Blue Cheese
1 cup of crème fraîche
3 splashes of juice from lemon
Instructions
The Pumpkin Fritters
In a large mixing bowl place grated potatoes and pumpkin.
Add eggs, cumin, satureja, coriander and sage. Sprinkle with sea salt. Mix well.
Start adding flour ½ cup at a time. Watch the consistency. In the finale, dough should be juicy, but nicely homogenous.
I used approximately 100g of flour. However, the amount depends on the juiciness of the pumpkin and potatoes.
Create flat fritters by using hands and place them on a clean working board. Continue until all dough is gone.
Next, heat up around 4-5 splashes of olive oil in a large frying pan. Gently place about 5 fritters in.
Fry them, around 5 minutes from each side. If the oil gets too hot, cover with a lid and lower the heat to medium.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Cranberry Glazed Ham
Sprinkle a small baking tray with some olive oil and place the smoked ham in the middle. Add 1 teaspoon of five spice powder and rub it nicely all over the ham.
The best is to glaze it in one big piece, of course. However, I was gifted with few thick slices. Therefore, I tied them up together with a cotton twine.
Do not forget to watch the fritters.
In a small deep pan pour in the whiskey on high heat. Add brown sugar, marmalade, Worcestershire Sauce, 1 teaspoon of Five-Spice Powder and Dijon Mustard. Mix with a balloon whisk and reduce. Cook for about 2 minutes until it gets a bit thicker. It should stay saucy. It thickens when taking off the heat.
Brush the ham with the sauce, on the top and from all the sides.
Place it uncovered in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes. Take it out every 10 minutes and brush and brush. Only this way you get a beautiful crunchy crust.
Take it out and let it rest. Then, make thick slices by using a sharp knife.
The remaining cranberry sauce will be a stunning addition to your meal. Done.
The Blue Cheese Foam
The Pumpkin Fritters and The Cranberry Sauce are ready by now. The ham is resting.
The only thing that needs to be finalized is The Blue Cheese Foam. So easy.
In a blender place blue cheese, crème fraîche and lemon juice. Mix until beautiful foamy texture. Taste and flavour up with lemon accordingly. Done.
Presentation
Serve 2 thick slices of The Cranberry Glazed Ham with 1-2 tablespoons of The Cranberry Sauce, 2-3 Pumpkin Fritters per portion and 2 teaspoons of marvellous Blue Cheese Foam. Enjoy with a glass of full flavoured red wine.
Makes 5 serves (A large piece of Cranberry Glazed Ham, 12 medium Pumpkin Fritters, a serving bowl of The Cranberry Sauce and Blue Cheese Foam).