Bourbon Cider Ham

Bourbon Cider Glazed Ham via Cooking In Stilettos
4-5 pound fully cooked, spiral cut, bone-in ham
2 cups of Apple Cider, divided
1/3 cup of light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/3 cup of Dijon Mustard
1 clove of garlic, finely minced
1 cup of Bourbon

Heat oven to 350 F. Line roasting pan w foil. Place ham, cut side down, in pan. Pour 1 c apple cider over ham and place in the oven. roast  45 min while prepare glaze.in a heavy bottomed pan, add remaining cider, br sugar, mustard, and garlic.  Whisk to combine. Let mix come to boil, then turn off heat. whisk in bourbon and return to heat. Bring bourbon cider glaze to boil and reduce to simmer til mix reduced by half. When reduced, set aside sm amt for serving.After 45 min, remove ham from oven and flip ham so it is resting on side. Glaze ham w bourbon cider mix and continue to baste every 15 – 20 min til ham is fully heated through and glaze has formed a nice, crisp coating.
Remove  ham from oven and let rest 15 min  before serving.

Crockpot Fruity Ham

I made ham in the crockpot!  Like most crockpot recipes, it was super mega easy.

Here's what you need:

8or so lb bone in ham
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c maple syrup
2 c orange peach mango juice

Put the ham in the crockpot, flat side down.  Slather on the brown sugar.  Pour syrup and juice over the top.  Cover and cook 8 hrs, basting every few hours.

The fruit juice gives the ham a fun fruity flavor, while cooking the meat in the crockpot makes it tender and moist. 

Garden Monkey bread

In the past I have not had the best luck making monkey bread. The center dough always winds up under cooked. I know some people like undercooked biscuit dough from a can. In fact, my best friend has been known to eat it raw. Then again, she doesn't like cilantro so clearly she is broken. Canned biscuit dough should be cooked into a nice fluffy bread. Any other way is just wrong. Just ask me!

It had been quite some time since I had attempted the whole monkey bread thing, so I figured it was time to give it another whirl. I saw this savory version for monkey bread over at Goodness Gracious and thought it sounded fun.

Instead of bacon I used 2 cups of leftover chopped ham.  I also increased the amount of onions from 1/4 c to 3 small onions.  Then I caramelized them.  I left out the green pepper, and just used a red pepper that I had roasted and peeled the skin off of.

This recipe is so versatile that you could really add whatever you wanted.  Basically, if you like it in an omelet, you'd like it in this monkey bread version.

The recipe says to cook the bread for 30-35 minutes.  NOT!!!  Maybe you only cook it for that long if you are a weirdo that likes the raw dough.  After 30 minutes the center of the bread was still raw.  I wound up cooking the monkey bread for a full hour.

 As you can see, after an hour in the oven, the bread is not burnt in the slightest.  Neither is the cheese on top.

And when I unmolded the bread from the bundt pan, the sides are not even dark brown.

Yeah.  That unmolding process didn't work out so well for me.

Even though I sprayed the pan twice with PAM the bread still stuck to the pan.  I even went around all the edges with a plastic butter knife in attempts to loosen it from the pan.  Maybe I should have used PAM with flour instead.

Even though the bread stuck to the pan, it tasted marvelous.  The bread was all buttery and the ham on the edges got a little bit crispy and caramelized like bacon.  Good stuff people!

I was worried about the leftovers, but I heated them up in a 350F oven for 15 min to take the chill off and they were almost as good as they were right out of the oven the first time.

Garden Monkey Bread adapted from Goodness Gracious
4 Pack of Biscuits (7.5 oz)- Cut into thirds
1/4 Cup Melted Butted
1 roasted red pepper, seeded, peeled and chopped
2 c chopped ham
3 small onions, diced and sauteed
1/2 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Pour into greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 F til golden brown, anywhere from 30-60 min.

Baked Rigatoni

This Baked Rigatoni from Real Mom Kitchen totally blew my mind.  It was so awesome! 

Although, it nearly almost wasn't. 

I kept spilling things on the floor and counter.  The ingredients for the roux, the roux itself, noodles, etc.  Then I pulled it out of the oven 10 seconds before burning the cheese on top.

 Yeah I almost nearly burnt that bad boy.  And it wasn't even because I wasn't paying attention. The oven must have been running hot that day because I followed the recipe exactly.


Luckily my clumsiness didn't ruin the dinner.

 I made two minor changes to this recipe.  Instead of using mozzarella, I used Italian Blend pre shredded cheese.  Then I added peas.  I love how it gave the dish some color, and I didn't have to mess around with figuring out any side dishes for our meal.

And the absolute best part of the dish?  The leftovers tasted just as awesome as they did the first time around.  Everyone WANTED to eat this the second time around.  That's what I call winning!

Baked Rigatoni adapted from Real Mom Kitchen
1 pkg (16 oz) rigatoni pasta ( I used penne)
1/2 c butter
1/2 c flour
1 qt milk (4 cups) (I used skim)
2 c grated mozzarella cheese (I used Italian blend)
about 1/2 lb thinly sliced ham (I used 1/2 lb leftover cubed ham)
seasonings (onion salt, pepper, cayenne pepper - just eyeball the amt)
1-2 c froz peas
small pads of butter for top (I used tiny squares of 2T butter)

Preheat oven to 425 F. Melt butter over med heat and start water boiling for pasta. Once butter's melted, whisk in flour. Add your milk to make the roux. Stir til sauce thick enough to coat back of  spoon. When water boils,  cook pasta to al dente. . When white sauce is done, add seasoning, ham, and 1 c cheese. stir well, to melt cheese. Drain pasta and add to sauce. Add 1-2 c frozen peas.  Pour mixture into a greased 9×13 pan, smooth top and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Dot top with butter bits. Bake 25 min, til top bubbly and brown. (To make ahead of time and freeze: cool completely after pouring in pan, then add cheese and butter. Cover securely and freeze.  If cooking from freezer, add 30 minutes  to the cooking time, and check the center before serving.

Ham and Veggie Cobbler

Originally this dish was called broccoli cobbler.  I found it over at the blog Half Baked Harvest. I really messed with this recipe.  I added loads of other veggies, reduced the amount of canned soup, and added ham! 

The whole family really enjoyed this dish.  The only bad thing about it was the broccoli.  The dish fed the three of us for two meals, with one more leftover.  No one wanted to eat it because the broccoli had gotten stinky sitting in the fridge for several days.  To avoid wasting food, the next time I make this I will leave the broccoli out all together and replace it with  other mixed veggies.

I really hated to toss the odoriferous leftovers. The cheddar biscuit topping was amazing.  It was even better than the topping on the crumble pot pie.

The cheese made the topping all crispy.  I just love crispy cheese.  OK.  So I know the photos make the topping look burnt.  My camera does that.  I blame the horrible lighting in my kitchen.  The topping is deep golden brown.

Ham and Veggie Cobbler adapted from Half Baked Harvest
Filling:
1 can  Cream of Garlic and Mushroom soup
2oz softened cream cheese
3 c broccoli florets, fresh (about 2-3 heads) or frozen (or replace with veggies of your choice)
2c ham
1/2 c grated cheddar cheese (I used a 3 cheddar blend from Kraft)
1/2 t black pepper
1/2 diced carrots
1 1/2 c corn (I used frozen)
1/2 c peas (I used frozen)

Cheddar Drop Biscuits:
2 c flour
1 T baking powder
1/4 t baking soda (I forgot this)
1/2 t salt
1/2 c butter (1 stick), cold
1 c grated cheddar cheese, and 1/4 c more for topping
1/2 c plus 2 T buttermilk, cold and shaken (I used buttermilk powder combined with skim milk)
1 egg, cold
Freshly ground pepper for topping

Preheat the oven to 400F. In a large bowl, add soup and cream cheese. Mix until combined. Fold in ham, veggies, cheese, and black pepper. Add to greased 8x12 baking pan. Set aside and prepare biscuits. Add dry ingredients to med bowl: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and mix. Using a box grater, grate cold butter into flour mix. Stick bowl in freezer for 5 min. Meanwhile, combine  buttermilk and egg. Remove bowl from freezer. Gently break up butter and combine with flour, using hands, until it resembles small peas. Next, add cheese and combine until evenly mixed. Add  buttermilk mix all at once and mix until barely combined; lightly knead dough until it forms one solid mass. Drop 6-8 mounds of dough onto surface casserole. Top with cheese. Top each biscuit with black pepper. Bake 40-45 min. Biscuits will be golden brown and the sauce will be bubbly.  (This dish can be made up to 3 days ahead of time. cover and chill until ready to use. Bake as directed.)

Ham and Penne Bake

Let's discuss the recipe Penne with ham, mushrooms , peas and cheese from Real Mom Kitchen.

Ok. Alright.  There isn't anything to discus regarding this recipe.  It's not like it's the recipes fault that it turns out weird when the chief can't manage to perform to a basic cooking technique.

Translation: I messed up on the rue so the casserole was a soupy mess.

I think perhaps Julia Child just rolled over in her grave.

Note to self: sauce will not magically come together in the oven if it hasn't thickened in the pan.

Fortunately, it was a tasty soupy mess.

When I strained the food from the "sauce" it looked like this!

Not too bad.

Aside from the problem with the sauce, I made a few other small changes to the recipe.

First, instead of a cup of chopped mushrooms, I added an entire 8 oz package of mushrooms.  For some reason I decided to chop them up in small pieces.  While this tasted great, there was much unhappiness from Blockette.  Small pieces of mushroom are difficult to pick out.  And she might accidentally eat one.  Apparently, the time where she actually wanted to eat mushrooms was only for two short months in the summer.  Probably because they were grilled.  Grilling makes almost everything taste good.  Even fish!

The second alteration I made was to add a half of a roasted orange pepper.  (I didn't have any red pepper.)  I was basically too lazy to measure 3T of chopped peppers out.

Third, I made my usual swap of Small curd Cottage cheese for the Ricotta.  Yeah.  I'm weird.  I don't like Ricotta.  I know.  No one complains when I use the cottage cheese so that's how I roll.

Fourth, I used a full 8 oz of shredded Swiss.  I knew that I wasn't going to use the Swiss cheese up before it got fuzzy so I used the whole brick.  Can you really ever have too much cheese?  No.  No you can't.

Fifth, I used 8oz of pasta instead of 6.  I had half a box so I cooked that whole sucker up.

Finally, I made the dish in a 9x13 pan because of all the changes I made to the dish.

I'm posting the original recipe here instead of a revised one with all my changes.  Just in case the weird things I did were the cause of the soupy nature of the casserole.  (Really, it was my improper preparation of the rue, but I'm drifting ever so slightly into denial.)

Layered Penne with Ham, Mushrooms, and Peas from Real Mom Kitchen
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
3 Tbsp. chopped red bell pepper
3 Tbsp. chopped green onions
1/4 cup butter or margarine
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 cup milk
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 cups (10 oz.) diced smoked ham
1 cup frozen small peas, thawed
6 oz. penne pasta, cooked and drained
1 cup Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
1 cup (4 oz.) Shredded Swiss Cheese
1/4 cup (1 oz.)Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Cook mushrooms, red pepper and onions in butter in medium saucepan over medium heat 3 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in flour and pepper until smooth. Stir in mustard. Gradually stir in milk and broth. (This is where I screwed up.  GRADUALLY people.  gradually.) Heat to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in ham and peas.

Place 1 cup sauce in bottom of 8×8-inch baking dish. Layer half of penne over sauce. Spread with 1/2 cup Ricotta cheese, half of remaining sauce, 1/2 cup Swiss cheese and 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese. Repeat with layers of pasta, 1/2 cup Ricotta cheese and sauce.

Cover and bake in preheated 375°F oven 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 10 minutes more. Sprinkle with remaining Swiss cheese and Parmesan cheese. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serves 6

Stovetop Broccoli, Ham and Rice

Just a quick little post today about this Cheesy Broccoli Rice with Ham from Buns in My Oven.

This dish was a quick and easy one pot meal. 

I thought it was a great way to use up leftover ham.

Except...
I didn't like the leftovers.

Not even a little bit.

Guess that's ok.  Mrblocko and Blockette did!

I'm pretty sure it was the broccoli that messed things up for me.

I'd make this recipe again if I was feeding more than just the 3 of us, or half the recipe so there wouldn't be any leftovers.

 Stovetop Cheezy Broccoli and Ham from Buns in My Oven
1 T olive oil

1 c long-grain white rice

2 1/4 c chicken broth

2 small heads of broccoli

2 T butter 

3 cups cooked diced ham

1 -2 c shredded cheddar

1/2 t garlic powder

salt and pepper, to taste

splash of milk, as needed

Heat olive oil in a med pan over med. Add rice and stir to coat. Toast rice, stirring often, just until it starts to turn golden. Pour in broth, bring to a boil, turn heat to low, and cover. Cook, covered,10 min. While rice is cooking, chop broccoli into bite-sized pieces. After 10 min, add broccoli to rice. Cook 5 -10 min til most of liquid absorbed. (The broccoli will cook for 5-10 min and steam for 5. ) Remove from heat and add butter, ham, cheddar, and garlic powder. Stir until well incorporated. Cover and let sit 5 min.  Stir again and add salt and pepper to taste and a splash of milk if you'd like to thin out  texture a bit, if needed.

Crockpot Lentil and Ham Soup

I will shout it loud and shout it proud... 

I love lentils! 

 Well, maybe I just love Ham and Lentil Soup.

This particular recipe is crockpot lentil soup from The Apron Gal.  Ham and lentil soup in the crockpot?  I was so there.

My crockpot must have been running cold, because after 4 hours on low, the lentils were no where near being done.  I cranked the slow cooker up to high for another 1 and a half hours and they were lentil perfection.

I was lucky enough to have homemade ham stock on hand instead of the suggested chicken stock.  This made for a very rich ham flavor throughout the soup.  I highly recommend using ham stock if you can.

One more thing, I only had pomegranate red wine vinegar instead of plain old ordinary red wine vinegar.  The recipe only calls for 2 tsp of vinegar, so I don't think it made any difference.

Crockpot Ham and Lentil Soup from The Apron Gal

2 medium carrots, peeled, and diced 2 ribs celery,  diced 1 medium onion, chopped   2 cloves garlic, minced 2 cups dry green lentils -  (I used 1c green and 1 c red lentils - I happened to have exactly that much in the pantry) 3 bay leaves 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar 1/2 teaspoon cumin  3/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 tsp black pepper 8 c ham stock (or chicken if you must) 1 c diced ham
Cut up vegetables into small chunks. Add all ingredients to crock pot and cook on low for 5-6 hours. Remove bay leaves and serve.

It's a good thing we like potato soup

I decided to make scalloped potatoes and ham from Pioneer Woman with the remainder of our

 leftover ham from Easter.

MMMMM! Doesn't that look scrumptious?

Except for one thing...

Yeah. That's not supposed to be like that.

I guess it's my fault that the dish turned out so soupy.  I used skim milk and evaporated milk instead of cream and half and half.  Apparently, the fat in the dairy was essential in getting the darn thing to set up.

Oh well.

The main thing was that it tasted amazing.  Ah. May. Zing.  Soupy soup and all.  I'll be making this again the next time we have leftover ham.  And maybe, just maybe I'll actually use cream and half and half!

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham from Tasty Kitchen
3 pounds Russet Or Yukon Gold Potatoes, Washed Thoroughly
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 whole Yellow Onion, Diced
3 cups Diced Ham
1½ cup Half-and-half
1½ cup Heavy Cream
¼ cups Flour
Black Pepper To Taste
1 cup Grated Cheddar Cheese
1 cup Grated Monterey Jack Cheese
Chopped Parsley (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a large casserole dish.Heat 2 T butter in a large skillet. Add onions and cook 1-2 min, til translucent. Add ham, cook 3-4 min until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat and set aside.

Combine half-and-half and cream in a microwave-safe container and nuke for a minute or so, until no longer cold. Whisk in flour and black pepper until totally combined. Set aside. (You may add salt, but cheese and ham are salty, so add sparingly.)

Combine the two grated cheeses. Set aside.

Using a mandoline or slicer, slice potatoes into 1/8"slices (very thin.) Layer 1/3  potato slices in prepared dish. Sprinkle 1/3 ham/onion mix, then 1/3 cheese, then pour 1/3 cream mix.Repeat twice. Cover with foil and bake 40 min. Remove foil and bake 20 min or til bubbly and hot.

Cut into squares and serve. Sprinkle on chopped parsley if you’d like!
(Note: To speed along the process a bit, you may boil sliced potatoes for 3 to 5 minutes before assembling the casserole. Just drain and slightly cool before assembling.)

Monte Cristo Casserole

It's been precisely eleventy two years since I've had a Monte Cristo Sandwich.  I have no idea why.  OK.  Scratch that.  I know why.  Cause we rarely go out and when we do, they don't have Monte Cristo on the menu.  Oh and Monte Cristos are usually fried, and we've already established my dislike and fear of molten oil.  All these things have left me sadly Monte Cristo-less for ages and ages.  At least I was until I found this recipe for monte cristo casserole over at Real Mom Kitchen.

This is what the casserole looks like right out of the oven.

And here it is all plated up with powdered sugar and strawberry sauce. 

Now the original recipe calls for two 12.5 oz boxes of French Toast.  I looked at my grocery store and, on sale, a 12.5oz box contains only 6 slices for $2.  Now I can make 12 slices of French Toast from scratch for less than $1 total.  $1 and a little bit of my time seemed a whole lot better to me than spending $4 and no time.

So I did a little advance planning and made a double recipe of French Toast using this recipe for waffled French Toast. (Just cook the bread on a skillet instead of in the waffle maker.)  Doubling the recipe yielded me 15 slices. I made the French Toast one day, let it cool on racks, and then stuck 12 slices in a large zip bag and stored it in the freezer. This left me with 3 extra slices which I greedily ate for breakfast the next day. I took the French toast out of the freezer the morning I planned on making this hotdish, and let them thaw all day in the fridge. When as I was preparing dinner, I popped them in the toaster to get nice and crispy.

I used leftover ham that I had frozen from Easter.  The turkey was a bit trickier.  I looked in the deli and the turkey there was crazy expensive.  The brand of lunch meat Mrblocko usually eats was loads cheaper so I used some of that instead.  I grabbed a stack of slices and chopped them into cubes.  This was easy as the slices really like to stick together.

I also used the last of my failed strawberry freezer jam that didn't set up, instead of the frozen strawberry and jam topping mixture.  This turned out perfect, and we're finally done with all that failed jam! Hooray! 

Although this took a bit of advance planning, I felt it was worth it.  Even the leftovers were good.  So good, in fact, that we fought over who got to eat the last slice.  I didn't attempt to reheat the casserole as it tasted so great, cold, from the fridge.

Monte Cristo Casserole from Real Mom Kitchen
2 packages (12.5 ounces each) frozen French toast slices, thawed (or 12 slices if you're going to make your own)
1 cup milk
6 eggs
1 cup of thick sliced deli baked ham, diced
1 cup thick sliced deli roast turkey, diced
8 ounces or 2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
powdered sugar
24 oz container of frozen strawberries slices, thawed and drained
1/2 cup strawberry jam or ice cream topping (I used my homemade freezer jam and omitted the frozen strawberries)

Preheat oven to 375. Cut the slices of thawed French toast into 3/4 inch cubes. In a bowl, whisk milk and eggs. In a large bowl, place half French toast cubes. Pour half of the egg mixture over cubes and toss gently with a spoon or spatula. Toss until cubes are well coated.

Place the coated French toast cubes in a 9 x 13 baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick spray.Next layer half the ham, turkey, parsley and cheese on the coated French toast cubes.

Using the same large bowl, toss the remaining French toast cube and egg mixture to coat. Place coated French toast cubes in an even layer in the baking dish followed by layers of remaining ham, turkey, parsley, and cheese.

While the casserole bakes, combine sliced strawberries with jam/ice cream topping. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and set in center. Remove to cooling rack; cool 10 minutes.

Cut into 8-12 squares. Sprinkle the top of each square with a dusting of powdered sugar followed by a spoonful of the strawberry mixture.

Pasta Cordon Bleu

This is the first of many things I'm making with the tasty tasty Ham with Maple and Mustard Glaze we had for Easter.

I can't remember the last time I actually had Chicken Cordon Bleu.  It's been at least 8 years.  At Least.

I used to buy those little frozen breaded things at the grocery store.  They came in individual little packets.  They were great when I was just whipping up something for myself. (I thought that was cooking in those days.)  The chicken always turned out a bit on the rubbery side.  And now that I CAN cook, I won't eat rubbery chicken even if it starts raining donuts.

Don't really know why I haven't attempted to make Cordon Bleu before.  Maybe the memory of the rubbery processed stuff has lingered in my mental taste buds?  Or maybe I thought it was too much work and involved handling raw chicken.

Handling raw chicken is super icky.  I try to use a fork when possible.  You can't really get around it if you have to stuff or roll up a piece of raw chicken. That, more than anything is probably why I've never made the darn dish.

Oh ho!  But then I saw pasta cordon bleu from Amy's New Kitchen.  There's no wrapping or anything to do with raw meats.  The recipe even uses pre-cooked diced chicken and ham.  How is that for speedy awesomeness?

As is my M.O, I did not follow the recipe to the letter.  The recipe didn't get the best reviews, but I was certain I could improve on it.  I made a few changes here and there, including nearly burning the panko and breadcrumb topping under the broiler! 

It looks a lot worse than it is.

See, you can't even tell when it's all mixed together.  And what's most important, there was zero burnt taste.  In fact, until Mrblocko looks at this post, I'll wager he had no idea how "cajun" the breadcrumbs were right out of the oven.

Pasta Cordon Bleu adapted from Amy's New Kitchen
3/4 lb. Pasta (I used penne)
1 cup Chicken Breasts, cooked and cubed
1 cup Ham, cooked and cubed
1 T olive oil
1 small diced onion1 1/2 cups Milk
8 oz. Cream Cheese (softened)
2 T spicy or Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
1/8 t nutmeg
1/8t cayenne
2 cups Gruyere, shredded
2 cups defrosted peas (I only used 1 c. but it wasn't enough, and this is me who doesn't like peas saying this.)
3/4c combination of breadcrumbs and panko
1/4 cup Butter, melted

Cook pasta per package instructions. Drain and add meat to the pot, tossing to combine.  Meanwhile, in a medium sauce pan saute onions in oil.  When onions begin to brown, add milk, cream cheese and mustard. Stir until smooth, about 5 minutes.  Add salt, pepper, cayenne and nutmeg.  Add sauce to noodles and combine, then stir in cheese and peas.  Pour into 9x13 baking dish. Combine breadcrumbs/panko with melted butter.  Evenly sprinkle breadcrumbs over top of dish.  Place under broiler for 4 minutes, watching carefully so it browns and doesn't burn.

Ham with Maple and Mustard Glaze

Ham. Nothing beats a good ham. We're experts on ham in this house.

 This is just a representation of what 90% of the pictures of my beloved child look like.

But we aren't talking about that kind of ham.  We're talking about bone-in ham shanks.  Over Easter they were on sale for 89¢ a pound.  I bought two and stuck one in the freezer for later.  I would have bought more but they were standing at the door with clubs if you tried to buy more than two.  I probably could have taken them on, but I left my cast iron skillet at home.  Alas.

The last ham my husband prepared was tasty, but as we rarely eat the same thing twice, I had to go searching for a new recipe. I settled on this recipe for ham with maple and mustard glaze from Cook, Shoot, Eat.

Mrblocko and his knives of fury, carving up the ham like a maniac, maniac-woah-oh-oh.

Of course, not one to want to let anyone down, I made a few minor changes to the recipe.  The recipe called for champagne vinegar.  Well I didn't have that, but I did have white wine vinegar.   I thought that would work out just as well.  Except for the fact that when I went to use it, I noticed it had this huge floating disk of yuck in it.  I didn't know that vinegar could grow funky junk.  Guess you learn something new every day.

I decided to use cider vinegar.  Cider is made from apples, and apples are a nice complementary flavor to ham.  And, as it turns out, I had EXACTLY the right amount for the recipe.

Instead of using Apricot jam, I used peach-mango preserves.  Wow.  Awesome substitution.  I've made a peach glazed roaster chicken before that was to die for.  Peach-mango kicks regular peach's butt.  Of course, I might just be a tad bit biased as I LOVE peach-mango stuff.

Oh, one more thing, we left off the cloves.  Neither Mrblocko nor I particularly care for cloved ham.  The ham had plenty of flavors going on, that even if you were a clove fan, I don't think you'd miss them.

This ham was super moist.  I can't stand it when a ham gets over cooked.  It's so sad to see the tender goodies turned into pork chewing gum.  Bleck.  Sometimes glazes can be über sweet, but not this one. This glaze had a nice balance of flavors.  It was salty from the mustard, sweet from the maple and jam, and tangy from the vinegar and mustard. An all around winner.

Ham with Maple and Mustard Glaze adapted from Cook, Shoot, Eat
ready-to-eat, cooked ham, bone-in, uncut (not spiral cut), shank or butt end, 8-11 lbs.

Glaze
 ½ cup cider vinegar
¾ cup maple syrup
½ cup Dijon or spicy mustard
2 T peach  mango preserves
Salt and pepper to taste

Remove ham from the refrigerator still in its wrapping a couple of hours before you’re planning to cook so as to bring it close to room temperature.

Make a diamond pattern on the ham by cutting straight lines into the fat with a sharp knife about ½ inch deep parallel to each other. Score another set of lines at a 45 degree angle to the first to create a diamond pattern.

Preheat oven to 325° F. Place ham, fat side up in a roasting pan lined with aluminum foil. Cook ham in oven for one hour.

While ham is cooking, make glaze. In a small saucepan, heat vinegar over medium heat until reduced to 2 T.  Add maple syrup, mustard, jam and salt. Cook, whisking, until well combined, about 2 minutes. Season with pepper to taste and set aside.  Remove ham from oven and brush top and sides generously with one third of the glaze.

Return to oven. Remember that the ham is already cooked so you don’t have to cook to an internal temperature of 140° F as is often instructed. The ham will need about another 30 min of cooking to achieve an inner temperature between 110° and 120° F. It will be very warm, if not hot, and is more likely to retain its moisture.

Baste every ten minutes with the glaze. Don’t baste ham with its own juices as the glaze might wash off. Take the ham out of the oven, cover with aluminum foil and let rest 15 minutes before serving.

Mystery Ham Glaze

They had bone in hams on sale a while ago and Mrblocko loves bone in ham. They are right up there with steak in his book. I told him that if I bought a ham it would be his job to figure out how to cook it.

I have no idea where he got this recipe but it is delicious. It is probably my new favorite glaze for Ham. I should let him pick out recipes from the Internet more often. If you know where this recipe came from, please let me know and I will credit it here.

Mrblocko's Mysterious Ham Glaze from the Internet
1/3 c prepared yellow mustard
1/3 c maple syrup (we used the fake stuff)
2 T Br sugar
2 t onion powder

Preheat the oven to 325F. Mix all the ingredients together and cover the ham with the glaze. Make a foil tent over the meat. Cook the meat, basting every 20 min until the glaze is gone. Cook til internal temp is 160F. Remove the foil and place under the broiler for the last 5 min to get the outside caramelized and crispy.

(There may or may not have been a picture of the finished glazed ham. My computer got a nasty virus and it is at a friend's house right now seeing if any of the data can be retrieved. I felt like posting anyhow today, with or without pictures. Mrblocko was nice enough to leave me his laptop so I wasn't completely disconnected from the world. YAY!)