Ham-Tastic! Two Amazing Christmas Ham Glazes and Three Easy Sides To Reduce Hamxiety!

Making a ham this Christmas and not sure how to glaze it? I have two delectable glaze recipes for you - a porter, honey and mustard glaze as well as a peach and mango glaze! How about what to serve with the ham? I have three of the easiest sides: crunchy glass potatoes with malt vinegar, a divine burrata with white peach and basil and honey butter glazed carrots!

Christmas is perhaps the most stressful time of the year. It's the culmination of that year's pressures, families and cramped work schedules. Also if I can offer some sort of relief in making Christmas easier it's with these easy ham glazes and sides.

One side is a burrata salad that takes all of 5 minutes to prepare and yet would seem it came from a restaurant (confession: I make this salad about once a week ever since I first tried it in LA). The other two sides are easy and produce gorgeously crunchy potatoes and the sweetest but simplest carrots ever.

Then there are the two ham glazes - one involves simply stirring ingredients together in a bowl while the other cooks on the stovetop for 5 minutes.

Last week I was chatting to a woman overseas about traditional Christmas dinners. I mentioned that a lot of people in Australia seem to do ham and that I liked it because it was one of the easiest items to serve. All it needs is a glaze and because it is already cooked, there's no trepidation about whether it is cooked through.

I used the award winning Woolworths Gold Triple Smoked Bone-in Half Leg Ham. The Gold range is my favourite at Woolworths because it really is top shelf in flavour and ingredients. This is a moist, succulent ham that is not overly salty and I love the light smoky flavour from the triple smoking over hickory wood and it is cured using South Australian salt.

I also bought some sweets to lighten the workload like the Woolworths Gold Ruby Chocolate Cheesecake that uses the naturally pink Ruby Chocolate that everyone is talking about, some Woolworths Summer Berry Fruit Mince Pies (these are SO good, I ate four of these!) and a sparkly Woolworths Gold Mocha Espresso Martini Flavoured Pudding with gold dust. This is a great version of the pudding as not everyone in my family likes fruit pudding and this is a chocolate pudding.

Video of how to make glazes and sides

Also while on this recent trip we went out for dinner one night. I hadn't booked the restaurant, the tourism board had arranged it for me and when I got there and told them my name there was a little bit of confusion as they searched for my booking.

"Let me loooook...," the maitre'd said scanning the list. I looked over her shoulder and saw my name as well as some notes written next to it. They were in large letters and curious, I leaned in to read the notes about me.

"Likes pretty cocktails and a glass of champagne," it read. I had to giggle. I mean that's quite true but I wouldn't have picked those things to say about myself. If anything a restaurant note might say "Most likely will steal a copy of the menu or ask for a booth," Or regarding Christmas and life in general, "Is likely to over cater and loves leftovers!"

So tell me Dear Reader, have you tried anything from the Woolworths Gold range? Are you doing a ham this year? And how would you describe yourself in two sentences?

Porter, Honey and Mustard Glaze

All Original Recipes by Lorraine Elliott

Each of these glaze recipes makes enough glaze to coat a 7 kilo ham. If there is any left over you can heat the sauces up and serve them with the ham.

• 3 tablespoons Porter beer
• 1 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons Dijon seeded mustard
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom

Step 1 - Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

Mango & Peach Glaze

• 1/2 mango, peeled cut into chunks
• 2 peaches, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons powdered garlic
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Step 1 - Place all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer with the lid on. Allow the fruit to soften (about 5 minutes or so depending on how ripe your fruit is). Puree until smooth.

Double Glazed Ham

• 7 kilo Woolworths Gold Triple Smoked Bone-in Half Leg Ham
• 1/2 quantity of Porter, Honey and Mustard Glaze
• 1/2 quantity of Mango & Peach Glaze
• Cloves

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 180c/350F and double line a very large and sturdy baking tray with parchment. Cut around the edge of the ham and remove the skin (it should come away easily). Score the fat a little deeper with a sharp knife (make sure not to cut too deep to the meat). Stick cloves into the fat.

Step 2 - Brush the glazes on the ham and place in the oven for 1.5 hours. Remove and bush more glaze every 30 minutes.

Glass Potatoes

Adapted from Baby Mac via Annabel Crabb

• 2kgs/4.4lbs. potatoes, small, skin on for maximum convenience
• 250ml/8.8flozs. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon salt
• Salt and malt vinegar to serve

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 220C/440F and use a heavy cast iron rectangular baking pan (do not use ceramic). Boil or steam the potatoes until tender and a knife can slide in easily. Drain and place on the unoiled pan and using a masher, press down gently but firmly until the tops split.

Step 2 - Pour the olive oil over and season with salt. Place in the oven and roast for 10 minutes and then turn down to 180C/350F and roast for another hour making sure not to touch or turn these potatoes. The bottoms of the potatoes will become crunchy and "glassy". Serve with extra salt and malt vinegar.

Burrata With White Peach and Basil

• 1 burrata
• 1 white peach, cut into segments
• 1-2 tablespoons peach jam
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Fresh basil leaves

Step 1 - Spoon the peach jam into a serving bowl and place the burrata on top. Place peaches around it and drizzle with oil. Add basil leaves.

Honey Glazed Carrots

• 1kg/2.2lbs carrots, peeled, tops removed and cut into sections (thinner carrots are best for this)
• 75g/3ozs. butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons honey
• Salt and pepper to season

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 180C/350F and line a baking tray with parchment. Melt the butter and honey together and whisk until well combined. Place the carrots on a tray lined with parchment and drizzle with honey butter. Roast for 30-40 minutes or until done (depending on the thickness of the carrots).