Christmas is that special time of the year when you go the extra mile to make dinner that tiny bit more delicious. But it doesn’t have to be a daunting process. Freedom Farms has put together some tips for what to do with the ham before, during and after the Christmas festivities.
Before:
Be a conscious shopper. Freedom Farm’s premium Christmas hams not only look fantastic and taste incredible, but they have been raised as happy piggies without those sad crates, cages or pens – so rest assured you’re having an ethical Christmas too.
Once you’ve got your Freedom Farms Ham home, store it in the coldest part of the fridge, usually at the back, keep it in its wrapping and it will keep fresh until the best before date shown on the wee white label.
During:
Time to organise your glaze and sides. Cloves, pineapple rings, honey, soy, oranges and cherries are traditional glaze ingredients, or try adding sriracha, ginger or jalepeno to add a bit of zing this year. For the sides roasted potatoes, a big green salad and mustard are the perfect partners.
After:
Christmas day has come and gone and odds are you’ll have some leftovers. First make sure you store your ham correctly. Cover the ham loosely with tin foil, a clean damp tea towel or a ham bag (or even a pillow case works well) and store in the coolest part of your fridge. If using a ham bag or tea towel, soak it in water with a couple of tablespoons of vinegar. Squeeze out the excess liquid and wrap the ham loosely. Repeat soaking process every 2-3 days.
Then you can make your way through the leftovers with some of these ideas:
Ham Sandwiches
Nothing says Boxing Day like ham sandwiches. Whack two pieces of bread together with some big thick pieces of ham, mustard and lettuce and Bob’s your uncle.
Ham Penne Pasta
After the stress of Christmas, you might as well keep dinners as low stress as possible for as long as possible. Penne Pasta is so easy, just boil a pot of water, cook the Pene and once cooked add pesto, ham and cherry tomatoes for a delicious easy meal.
Frittata
Sautee some onion, green capsicum and garlic in butter. Set aside and add parsley and tomatoes. Combine 5 x eggs, 1 cup of cheese, ground salt and pepper, and left over ham chopped up into small chunks. Mix everything together and cook in a pan in the oven at 180 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
Ham Eggs Benedict
Bring the café to your house or bach this Christmas. Poach a couple of eggs and place on a toasted English muffin with spinach and ham and store bought hollandaise.
Freedom Farms are available at leading food stores and supermarkets across New Zealand
