Gammon with Rooibos and Ginger Beer

“This recipe for gammon cooked in the Instant Pot with ginger beer & rooibos is my new favourite way to prepare this Christmas dish.
The cooking broth – which includes classic flavourings of carrot, celery, bay leaves and onion, is brought to spicy sweet life with ginger beer. The addition of earthy Rooibos tea gives it a delicious depth and dark colour.
The cooking liquid is such an elixir, I had to use it in the making of the glaze and saved the rest for future use. I think it would make an amazing base for ramen or as a stock to poach things in.”

Ingredients:

• 1 large smoked gammon approx 1.5kg – 2.5kg 
  
• 4 rooibos tea bags 
  
• 750ml strong ginger beer 
  
• 2 celery stalks 
  
• 2 medium carrots 
  
• 1 small white onion 
  
• 1 tsp all spice berries, crushed 
  
• ½ tsp black peppercorns 
  
• ½ tsp cloves
• 3 bay leaves 

 
Gammon Glaze:

• 1.5 cups of cooking broth 
  
• ¼ cup of honey  
  
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• Pinch of cloves 

 
Bring the gammon to room temperature and remove all the outer casings including string. Boil the kettle. 
 

Heat 1 cup (250ml) of the ginger beer in a jug in the microwave until hot and then add a cup of boiling water. Add the 4 Rooibos teabags to the liquid and allow it to infuse for at least 10 minutes. Remove the teabags. 
 
Roughly chop the celery, onion and carrots and place at the bottom of the Instant Pot. Put the gammon on top of the vegetables and then add the bay leaves and spices. Pour the 2 cups of tea mixture and the remaining 500ml of ginger beer over the gammon and adjust the vent to the sealing setting.  Push Pressure Cook (otherwise known as manual mode) on the Instant Pot, check it is on High Pressure and change the time based on the size of gammon. Allow 15 minutes per 500gms of gammon, so 2 kgs of gammon will cook for 60 minutes. 
 
Cook the gammon and then allow for a natural release of pressure. Remove and set aside. Strain the solids out of the cooking broth. 
 
To make the glaze, put 1.5 cups of the strained cooking broth back into the stainless steel inner pot and switch to Sauté mode, once simmering, add the cloves and honey. Turn Sauté mode to ‘Less’ and leave for around 30 minutes or longer to allow it to thicken.  Add the mustard around half way through and stir to ensure it is incorporated. The glaze should thicken even more once it’s off the heat. 
 
When you are ready to serve / glaze the gammon, remove the thick outer fat layer from the gammon and cut a criss-cross pattern into the fat. Place it on an oven tray under a hot grill ensuring that it is not too close to the element. Drop the oven rack to low if necessary. Once about half of the fat has started to render off, start brushing the glaze over the gammon and return to the grill. Keep a close eye and keep basting it a couple more times. Remove and set aside to serve either straight away or at room temperature a little later. Serve the leftover glaze on the side.  
 
Decorate the serving platter with fresh bay leaves, rosemary, pomegranates or grilled peaches.