Today, I spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen. Of course, there was the second batch of mince pies to make. Similar to the first batch, they didn’t last out the day. Mind you, they were much better this time, given I made my own (St Delia’s) pastry rather than ready-made, which I was forced to use due to the unexpected lard shortage last week.
I was messaging Lorna today about mince pies…actually, I messaged her because she has Covid but mince pies came up in the conversation. Turns out she used to help her mum make them every year. Sounds familiar, I said.
Poor Lorna is going to spend Christmas in isolation while Darren goes off and enjoys himself. He is negative. I said this was because he has the mystic protection of his beard.
But the mince pies, though delicious, were but a small part of today’s kitchen capers. No, the bulk of my cooking time was spent making a Swedish Christmas Ham.
Last year, the idea of the traditional Swedish Christmas Ham passed me by with narry an inkling. I did see ham in ICA but I thought it was just the normal ham we have in the UK, ready for slicing up cold, served with pickles, cheese and crackers. But, it turns out, that is wrong.
Traditional Swedish Christmas Ham is a thing. There seems to be a lot of variation in the creation but, essentially, it’s a hunk of gammon which, after a bit of essential preparation, is topped with mustard and breadcrumbs before being baked in the oven.
The recipe I used called for an onion, apples, various herbs and spices and the gammon to be placed in a big saucepan and boiled, lightly, for an hour.
There was then a long wait for it to get cold.
During the long wait, I made the mince pies and did some (boring) work in my office. Eventually, though, it was time to remove the ham, smother the top in mustard and sprinkle breadcrumbs on top.
The baking didn’t take long. The gammon, after all, had been boiling for an hour, so it wasn’t exactly raw. Mind you, for the 20 minutes it spent in the oven, the extension smelled delicious.
As Mirinda said, walking out of the library, it smelled very Christmassy. As she grabbed a couple of mince pies, she claimed it tasted very Christmassy, too.
Finally, the ham came out of the oven and cooled on the work top before being wrapped in foil and heading for the fridge ahead of Friday. Of course, I had a slice to make sure it was edible. It was. Very edible. Though I might have overdone the mustard. A bit. We’ll see what Mirinda thinks.
Tomorrow is the day I always dread: the cake unveil.
