bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Susan Jung

Roasted ham makes an impressive and delicious alternative to Christmas turkey. It's often served with sweet-tart side dishes that balance its saltiness. The leftovers are delicious sandwiched between slices of rye bread with a little spicy mustard or in American 'biscuits' spread with cranberry sauce.
Cherry-glazed ham
This recipe comes from food stylist Vivian Herijanto.
1 fully cooked boneless ham weighing  2.5-3.5kg
Whole cloves, as needed
For the glaze:
375 grams sour cherry preserve
30 grams honey Dijon mustard
40 grams honey
15ml balsamic vinegar
15ml sherry vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Make the cherry glaze one day in advance to allow the flavours to blend. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Use a sharp knife to trim the rind from the ham, leaving  a layer of fat. Place the ham flat-side down so it doesn't wobble. Score a diamond pattern over the entire surface of the ham: use a sharp knife to slice parallel lines (about 1.5cm apart and about 3mm deep) then turn the ham and cut lines at a 45-degree angle to the first set of lines. Press a clove into the centre of each 'diamond'. Place the ham in a roasting pan and bake for 90 minutes. Remove the ham from the oven and use a pastry brush to brush the glaze over the entire surface. Continue to bake for about another hour (for a 2.5kg ham)  to 90 minutes (3.5kg),  brushing the ham two more times with the glaze. The ham is ready when an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat reaches 70 degrees Celsius. Remove the ham from the oven, cover loosely with foil and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes before carving.
Spiced apple sauce
1.5kg tart apples such as Golden Delicious
1 cinnamon stick
Scant 1/4 tsp ground cloves
Sugar, as needed
About 45ml fresh lemon juice
Peel and core the apples and chop them into chunks. Place the apple pieces in a large saucepan and add about 250ml water. Bring to a simmer then lower the heat, cover the pan with the lid and  cook, stirring frequently, until the apple is soft and mushy. Use a potato masher to crush the fruit.  Stir in the ground cloves and sugar to taste and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Remove the cinnamon stick then stir in the lemon juice. Serve hot, warm or cold.
Cranberry sauce
Homemade cranberry sauce is much better than the canned variety.  Leftover sauce can be made into an easy dessert by spooning it into pre-baked tartlet shells.
360 grams  cranberries, fresh or frozen
About 150 grams sugar
About 200ml water
About 200 grams fresh orange juice
2 strips orange zest, about 1cm wide and 6cm-8cm long
Place the cranberries, sugar and water in a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat and cook, stirring often, until the cranberries burst. Stir in the orange juice and zest and simmer for about five  minutes. Taste for sweetness and add more sugar if needed. The mixture will thicken as it cools; if necessary, add water to thin it.
Black pepper buttermilk biscuits
American biscuits are similar to British scones but they're usually eaten with savoury dishes rather than taken with  tea. As with scones, biscuits need a light hand - don't overwork the dough or the biscuits will be tough. The butter and buttermilk should be very cold. The pepper can be omitted if  preferred.
Fresh buttermilk - cultured soured milk - is expensive and difficult to find in Hong Kong. Reconstituted buttermilk works fine but the consistency can be thin.
520 grams plain flour, plus extra for shaping the biscuits
33/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda, sieved
3/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
25 grams sugar
240 grams cold unsalted butter, cut into 1cm chunks
About 300ml cold buttermilk (if using reconstituted buttermilk, follow the directions on the packaging)
1 egg (for the egg wash)
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pepper and sugar in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until  the mixture forms lumps the size of small peas. Transfer  it into a large bowl and drizzle in 200ml of buttermilk. Combine the ingredients with your fingertips until the mixture is moistened; if it seems dry, drizzle in more buttermilk. Knead the dough about four times to form a cohesive mass that's neither sticky nor dry (it won't be entirely smooth).
Lightly flour a work surface. Pat out the dough with your hands until it's about 1.5cm thick. Cut out rounds of dough using a 5cm round cutter that's been dipped in flour. Press the scraps of dough together and cut out more rounds of dough. Place the rounds on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and brush the tops lightly with beaten egg. Place the pan in the oven, bake at 220 degrees for five minutes then lower the heat to 200 degrees and finish baking  until  cooked: they'll be golden brown on top, fragrant and firm to the touch. Allow to cool slightly before splitting the biscuits in half, spreading them with butter and serving warm with leftover ham and cranberry sauce.
styling Vivian Herijanto



In the pink