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Karen Martini's Christmas feast

Christmas is as much about time-honoured traditions as it is about making new ones.

Karen Martini
Karen Martini

Baked organic ham with cumquat marmalade glaze and allspice pineapple shown with horseradish potaoes.
Baked organic ham with cumquat marmalade glaze and allspice pineapple shown with horseradish potaoes.Marina Oliphant

Every Christmas lunch needs a centrepiece and more often than not there's more than one vying for attention. But a good ham is indispensible and there's no better leftover than baked ham.

You'll need a massive pot - about 20 litres - for this baked ham recipe, but it's fine to leave the shank sticking out a little. Alternatively, you can use a smaller or boneless ham but just need to reduce the poaching time, to about 45 minutes.

Recipes

Baked ham with cumquat marmalade glaze and spiced pineapple

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A strong coffee starts the day while unwrapping gifts and finishes it with thin slices of panforte. Before lunch, champagne usually finds its way to me in the kitchen. We'll start with crisp Tassie riesling and racy Mornington 2011 chardonnay and have Beaujolais and cellar surprises with the main. With sweets, it's strawberry-scented Brachetto from northern Italy.

Drink recipes

Christmas mule

Rosewater and raspberry ice with sparkling wine

* On Tuesday December 4 Karen Martini conducted a live Q & A session with readers. For her tips on Christmas cooking, go to the comments section below.

Karen MartiniKaren Martini is a Melbourne-based chef, restaurateur, author and television presenter. She has a regular column in Good Weekend.

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