Teri’s Food Therapy’s brown sugar glazed ham

BAVINA SOOKDEO

Terissa Skinner Ballantyne is the culinary maestro behind Teri's Food Therapy.

Ballantyne has transformed her passion into a thriving business that has been in existence for the past four years.

She explains, “I've always loved cooking since I was a child. I remember being in love with how my mom would take the simplest of ingredients and turn it into the most delicious of meals and then with shows such as B Smith with Style, Wendy Rahamut, etcetera, I found myself doing my own little cooking shows while in the kitchen. So, I eventually did a brief food prep course which expanded my knowledge and made me fall in love with cooking even more. I'd always be the designated cook amongst friends and family which led to them hiring me for little events, etcetera and thus, Teri's Food Therapy was born.”

Ballantyne considers herself a creative and she loves expressing her creative side through food.

“It also brings me joy seeing others enjoy something I created and even more joy seeing it inspire others to create as well” she said. “For me, cooking is definitely synonymous with love. Anyone who knows me knows that one of the main ways I dote on my loved ones is through food.”

Based at home in Claxton Bay, Terri’s Food Therapy, as a micro-catering business, has been gradually expanding its offerings, transitioning into creating products for home cooking, accompanied by recipe creation and blogging.

Ballantyne’s idea of Christmas cooking is, “plenty of big Trinibagonian flavours and enjoying a lot of the foods that we choose to eat just within this season like pastelles and ponche de creme. It also means indulgence; it's not a time to count calories at all.”

Ballantyne lives by the motto “live and let live,” creating an ethos of acceptance and harmony. The business slogan – good mood food – captures the essence of the delightful dishes that emanate from the kitchen of Teri's Food Therapy.

For those eager to recreate the magic in their own homes, Ballantyne generously shares her recipe for brown sugar glazed ham – a festive centrepiece that promises to elevate any holiday feast. This culinary masterpiece combines the richness of a picnic ham with a tantalising glaze that includes brown sugar, Dijon mustard, smoked paprika, and a blend of aromatic spices.

Ingredients

Picnic ham approx 7-8lbs

1 ½ cup brown sugar

½ cup water

5 cloves garlic minced

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tsp smoked paprika

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

You will also need:

Foil

Roasting pan

Basting brush

Directions

Preheat oven to 325°F

Remove ham from packaging and prep baking tray by foiling.

Score your rind by making light slices over the top of ham approximately one inch apart then repeat diagonally from the other direction.

Place ham in baking tray and place in oven for one hour.

In small saucepan on medium heat add water, brown sugar, minced garlic, Dijon mustard and remaining spices and whisk well.

Let it gradually come to a boil and whisk at intervals for approximately 10 mins or until glaze has thickened slightly, then remove from heat.

Once ham has baked for an hour baste by spooning ⅓ of the glaze onto it. You can also use brush to ensure glaze applies evenly

Place foil back onto ham and return to oven for another hour before basting again and again foiling and returning to oven for the final hour of baking.

Once ham has baked for three hours or has reached an internal temp of 145°, baste with remaining glaze and allow to bake for 10 mins uncovered.

Remove from the oven and allow ham sit for 10-15 mins before slicing and serving.

Be sure to make use of the delicious glaze in the baking tray and enjoy.