Holiday Ham Food

HOLIDAY HAM

Steps:

• Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Place ham on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Secure pineapple and cherries to ham with toothpicks. Combine brown sugar and seasoned salt; rub over ham. Gently pour pineapple juice over ham., Bake, uncovered, at 325° for 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until a thermometer reads 140° and ham is heated through. Baste frequently with brown sugar mixture.

HOLIDAY HAM, THREE WAYS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F, with the rack in the lower third of oven. If your ham has a layer of fat, use a sharp paring knife to score the fat in a diamond crosshatch pattern, about 1 inch wide and 1/2 inch deep.
• For Tangy Peach Mustard Ham or Sweet and Spicy Jerk Ham:
• In a medium bowl, mix together the glaze ingredients of your choice. Brush all over ham (reserving some glaze for basting while cooking).
• For Smoky BBQ Ham:
• Brush the ham with maple syrup (reserving some syrup for basting while cooking). Combine the rest of the ingredients in a medium bowl, then rub all over ham, pressing into syrup to adhere.
• Position roasting rack in roasting pan; pour 2 cups water into pan and place prepared ham on rack. Cover pan with foil and bake 1 hour. Remove pan from oven, remove foil, and brush ham with reserved glaze or maple syrup. Increase the oven temperature to 400°F.
• Return ham to oven uncovered. Bake until glaze has caramelized and the ham's internal temp reads 135°F when an instant-read thermometer is inserted in the middle of the ham (avoiding bone), brushing with more glaze or syrup if desired, 40 minutes to 1 hour more.
• Let rest 10 minutes before carving. Serve with biscuits or rolls, mustard, and pickles.
• Do Ahead
• Glazes can be made up to 3 days in advance and refrigerated. Rub (without maple syrup) can be made up to 1 month in advance and kept at room temperature.

HOLIDAY BAKED HAM

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Remove rind from ham.
• Place ham on rack in open roasting pan, fat side up.
• Insert meat thermometer with bulb in thickest part away from fat or bone.
• Roast ham in oven about 3 hours.
• Drain pineapple; reserve syrup.
• In small saucepan, combine syrup, preserves, mustard and allspice.
• Bring to a boil; continue boiling, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes.
• Remove ham from oven, but keep oven hot.
• Stud ham with cloves; brush with glaze.
• Using wooden picks, secure pineapple and cherries to ham.
• Brush again with glaze.
• Return ham to oven.
• Roast 30 minutes longer or until thermometer registers 160°F (about 25 minutes per pound total cooking time).
• Brush with glaze 15 minutes before done.
• Let ham stand 20 minutes before slicing.

HOLIDAY HAM AND POTATO CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Heat butter in a pot over medium heat. Add onions and sauté with a pinch of salt until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring, just to take off that starchy, raw edge, about 2 minutes. Pour in heavy cream and whisk to combine. Whisk in milk. Cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until it just starts to simmer and thicken up. Add 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and cayenne. Grate in nutmeg.
• Turn off heat. Stir in Worcestershire and fresh thyme leaves. Reserve until needed.
• Cover the bottom of a deep 10x15-inch casserole dish with about 25% of the reserved sauce. Add a layer of sliced potatoes, seasoning the tops with some of the remaining salt as desired; ladle over 1/3 of the sauce and sprinkle over 1/3 of the grated Cheddar cheese. Layer in ½ of the sliced ham.
• Place another layer of sliced potatoes on top and season with salt. Ladle over ½ of the remaining sauce; repeat layering with Cheddar cheese and ham.
• Place last layer of potatoes on top. Ladle over remaining sauce and spread out with a spatula. Sprinkle over remaining Cheddar cheese.
• Bake uncovered in the preheated oven until browned, bubbling, and potatoes are very tender, about 1 ½ hours. Let cool for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

GLAZED HOLIDAY HAM

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325 degrees. Place the ham on a rack in a large roasting pan. Score the ham diagonally left to right, then right to left, to create a diamond pattern across the meat. Stud each diamond with a whole clove.
• Add a cup or two of water to the bottom of the pan, then bake the ham, uncovered, 25 minutes to the pound if it is ready-to-cook, about half that if it is ready-to-eat.
• Combine the mustard and the brown sugar in a bowl, then add the sherry to make a thick paste. Spread the mixture over the ham approximately 20 minutes before it is ready to remove from the oven, then bake until crust has formed.

HOLIDAY HAM (SLOW COOKER)

Steps:

• Put the ham in the slow cooker.
• Pour the pineapple chunks over the ham and drizzle on the maple syrup.
• Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours.