Remember, remember the fifth of November! Come join us for this year’s Bonfire Night!
Every year, we like to have a bonfire on the 5th of November.
So, I thought this week I would share with you some of the things that we do and invite you to come along with us!
I'm going to make some toffee apples, we'll be having some fireworks, and this year we have our very own Guy Fawkes ready to light to get the fire going.
Here in the UK on the 5th of November, we remember the gunpowder plot. Guy Fawkes was the ringleader, and rumour has it that it was plotted within the walls of a house called Gayhurst, in Buckinghamshire.
Funnily enough, my first home when I was a baby was inside the Bell House of Gayhurst, and I was christened in Gayhurst Church!
The house was given to Sir Francis Drake by Queen Elizabeth I, and it truly is the most magnificent house. Due to my past, I feel a bit of a connection to the house and its history, and I always think about that on the 5th of November!
Do watch the video below to come along with us this Bonfire Night, from creating our Guy Fawkes, building the bonfire to collecting supplies, so much fun was had! Plus, keep scrolling for my simple and easy recipe for deliciously naughty toffee apples and juicy, flavour-filled gammon!
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Toffee Apples
Small apples with stalks removed
350g granulated sugar
100ml water
1tsp vinegar
3 tbsp golden syrup
Hundreds and thousands optional
Wooden kebab skewers snipped in half
Directions:
Protect a chopping board or tray with some greaseproof paper ready to pop your apples onto to set.
Place your sugar and water into a saucepan and dissolve on low heat.
Carefully insert skewers into each of the apples where you removed the stalk until the apple is secure.
Add the vinegar and golden syrup to your syrup, then place it onto the heat to boil. If you have a thermometer, let it reach 150 degrees c/300f. It will likely take 5 minutes or so.
It should change colour once it’s done. You can test it by dropping a couple of drops into water, if it creates a little ball of toffee you know you’re ready.
Working swiftly, dip and swirl your apples in the mixture and place them onto the greaseproof paper.
Dip in some hundred and thousands if you’d like!
If the syrup becomes too solid, pop it back onto the heat to melt down a little.
Download Printable Toffee Apple Recipe
Gammon
1 Ham Joint – 3.5-4 kg
1 Onion
1 Carrot
2 Sticks Celery
2 tbsp Soft Brown Sugar
8-10 Peppercorns
2 Blades Mace
2 Bay Leaves
Sprigs of thyme
To glaze:
2 tbsp Demerara sugar
1 tbsp Dry mustard
Cloves
Directions:
Cover the ham with cold water and soak overnight in a preserving pan.
After soaking, replace the liquid with clean and cold water ready to begin cooking.
Add to the water your roughly chopped onion, carrot and celery, two bay leaves, some sprigs of thyme, a small handful of black peppercorns, and a pinch of mace.
If the joint has a bone, pour the soft brown sugar around this.
Place your pan on the top of the Aga to bring to the boil.
Simmer for 30 mins per kilo plus 20 mins.
Aga: cook for 15 minutes on the floor of the roasting oven or at 220c and then transfer to the simmering oven or at 100c for the rest of the cooking time.
Remove for the heat and allow the gammon to cool in the water. Do not pour this away! It is packed full of flavour and incredibly tasty when used with soups and sauces etc.
Once the gammon is cold, remove from the water, remove the skin and mix together 2 tbsp of demerara, to 1 tbsp dry mustard. Cover the fat with the mixture, and press in firmly. I like to score the fat in a criss-cross pattern and finally stud with cloves.
Place into a roasting tin and add a little of the cooking liquid. Bake for approximately 45 mins to 1 hour until the mustard and sugar have glazed the ham and it is thoroughly heated through.
Aga: in the roasting oven or the baking oven for a little longer and it will happily stay in the simmering oven until needed once heated through. Electric fan oven 170c.
Allow to rest for 15-20 minutes before carving or allow to cool completely and serve cold with chutney and salads.
Goes fantastically with plum sauce, cranberry sauce or a Cumberland sauce.
Download Printable Gammon Recipe
I do hope you enjoy this week’s video, don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you never miss a thing!
Love, Charlie x