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Christmas was my first real attempt at cooking a half ham and making the glaze myself. I was a little nervous about feeding a crowd and ruining the first of our hams I’d been able to get a hold of and save for ourselves. In the previous years we had sold out before our family could have one.
Since we were making the pilgrimage up to the beautiful North Carolina mountains this year I knew I wanted it to be special.
It ended up being one of the easiest parts of the Christmas Eve meal!
After the second glasses of wine was poured and the meal was cleared we were STILL nibbling on seconds and thirds. We even had some of Aunt Betty's neighbors who were at the dinner, come by the next day wondering if they could have some more.
INGREDIENTS
1 Cottonwood Farm sugar cured ham
1 cup unsweetened apple juice or apple cider
1/2 cup whole grain Dijon mustard
2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
RECIPE PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 325°F. Place ham in large roasting pan. Pour apple juice over ham. Cover ham completely with parchment paper, then cover ham and roasting pan completely with heavy-duty foil, sealing tightly at edges of pan. Bake ham until instant-read thermometer inserted into center of ham registers 145°F, about 3 hours 45 minutes. Remove ham from oven. Increase oven temperature to 375°F.
Remove foil and parchment from ham. Drain and discard liquids from roasting pan. (or save them for any gravy you might make) Using long sharp knife, score fat in 1-inch-wide, 1/4-inch-deep diamond pattern. Spread mustard evenly over fat layer on ham. Pat brown sugar over mustard coating, pressing firmly to adhere. Drizzle honey evenly over. Bake until ham is well glazed, spooning any mustard and sugar glaze that slides into roasting pan back over ham, about 30 minutes. Transfer ham to serving platter; let cool at least 45 minutes. Slice ham and serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
- Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit
*** Because our hams are cured and smoked to reach an internal temperature of 155 degrees, our processor advises for best results heat at 350 degrees for 10 min per pound of meat. EX: 10lb ham = cook 100 minutes or 1 hr and 40 minutes. ***
If you would like to try your hand at cooking one of our Easter Hams for your family this year CLICK HERE. It will not disappoint.
