Christmas simply wouldn’t be the same for many without a baked ham with a sweet glaze, garnished with cloves, pineapples and cherries. For others, however, it’s a forbidden protein. So how about an alternative — cured Chicken Ham prepared by the ladies at the National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC) who recently shared with Thursday Food how to cure and then bake chicken ham, to give it the delightful goodness of traditional Jamaican Christmas ham.

Instructor: Marcia Edwards

Curing your Chicken

You’ll need about 12-14 lbs Chicken for this recipe

Brine (curing solution)

Ingredients:

12oz salt

2 tbsp saltpetre

2 tbsp brown sugar

1/3 cup pimento grains

3 quarts boiled water (cooled)

1 small bottle of vinegar

Dried orange peel (pounded to a powder) or nutmeg (optional)

Method:

Freeze chicken until ready to use

Remove chicken from freezer and allow to thaw overnight.

Prepare brine with water, salt, saltpetre, sugar and pimento grains in deep container.

Wipe chicken thoroughly with vinegar

Pierce chicken with sharp narrow blade knife, or using a syringe, inject brine into the flesh of the chicken.

Submerge in brine

Place in bottom of the refrigerator

Turn every 3-4 days for 2-3 weeks.

Remove wrap and place in freezer until ready for use.

Baking your Chicken Ham

Ingredients:

Chicken ham (see recipe above)

Whole cloves

Pineapple slices

Red cherries

For Regular Brown Sugar Glaze

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp dry mustard powder

3/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 cup of pineapple juice

Or try this Orange Glaze

1 cup orange juice

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 cup honey

2 tsp soy sauce

Method:

Thaw chicken ham in bottom of the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat oven at 178ºC or 325ºF.

Wrap chicken ham in foil

Place ham on wire rack in a shallow baking tin with a small amount of water.

Bake at 30 minuutes per kg (2.2lbs equals 1 Kilogram)

After baking time, remove chicken ham from oven and make diamond-shaped cuts across the surface of the chicken ham.

Stud the cuts with cloves; brush on glaze.

Decorate with pineapple slices and cherries.

Return to oven for 10 minutes and bake until golden brown.

Voilà! Your chicken ham is ready to eat!!