Gammon Salad Wreath with Citrus & Cherries
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings
- Category: Mains
Description
A festive salad of gammon, citrus, cherries, cheese, and crisp greens arranged as a wreath and finished with a honey–mustard dressing.
Ingredients
Gammon
2 cinnamon quills
2 star anise
1 dried chilli
½ tsp (2.5 ml) whole cloves
1 tsp (5 ml) cumin seeds
½ tsp (2.5 ml) allspice berries
1 tsp (5 ml) black peppercorns
5 bay leaves
1.5 kg gammon
Glaze
1 Tbsp (15 ml) Dijon mustard
¼ C (60 ml) honey
1 Tbsp (15 ml) white wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, grated
Dressing
1 garlic clove, finely grated
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp (15 ml) Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp (30 ml) honey
1 Tbsp (15 ml) mint, finely chopped
¼ C (60 ml) olive oil
Salt and black pepper, to taste
To Serve
200 g mixed salad leaves
100 g watercress
4 radishes, thinly sliced
100 g cherries, halved and pitted
1 cucumber, peeled into ribbons
1-2 blood oranges, segmented
100 g pomegranate arils
100 g White Rock cheese with cranberries (or feta), crumbled
10 g microgreens
Instructions
Gammon
Lightly toast the spices, except for the bay leaves, in a dry frying pan until fragrant. Transfer to a large pot and add the bay leaves and gammon. Cover with water and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 1.5 hours. Remove the gammon and allow it to cool until easy to handle.
Glaze
Mix the Dijon mustard, honey, vinegar, and grated garlic. Once the gammon is cool, remove the skin, leaving the fat cap intact, and place it on a foil-lined roasting tray. Brush generously with the glaze and roast in a preheated oven at 190°C (fan 170 °C) for 15–20 minutes, basting once or twice, until golden and caramelised. Allow to cool completely, then thinly shave into pieces.
Dressing
Whisk together the garlic, lemon zest and juice, mustard, honey, and chopped mint. Slowly whisk in the olive oil in a thin stream until the dressing is emulsified. Season with salt and black pepper.
To Serve
Arrange the salad leaves and watercress in a ring on a large platter to form a wreath. Distribute the radish slices, cucumber ribbons, orange segments, cherries, pomegranate pearls, and crumbled cheese evenly around the wreath. Add gammon slices in between the leaves. Drizzle with the dressing and garnish with microgreens just before serving.
