Brown Sugar And Bourbon Glazed Ham

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It's hardly the holidays without a ham, and this one delivers big on festive flavor with a glaze of brown sugar and bourbon.

Brown Sugar-Bourbon-Glazed Ham
Photo:

Stacy K. Allen, Food Stylist: Torie Cox, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster

Hands On Time:
20 mins
Total Time:
3 hrs 10 mins
Servings:
8 to 10

Preparing a glazed ham is a smart use of a busy cook's time, especially at the holidays. A large ham (and even a half-ham is plenty big) is no more trouble than a small picnic ham, and yields enough delicious servings to feed a crowd or stock the fridge with versatile leftovers.

This recipe begins with selecting a fully cooked ham, which might sound like a peculiar first step for an entrée that spends another 2 1/2 hours in the oven, but that time is for adding the deep flavor and gloss of a wonderful Southern-style glaze.

Go for a bone-in ham that's capped with a thin layer of flavorful fat that keeps the meat moist. Scoring the ham in the traditional cross-hatch pattern and studding it with whole cloves gives this entrée its classic good look, worthy of the center of the table or buffet.

Ingredients

  • 1 (6- to 8-lb.) fully cooked, bone-in ham

  • 48 whole cloves

  • 1 (16-oz.) package light brown sugar

  • 1 cup spicy brown mustard

  • 1 cup cola soft drink

  • 3/4 cup bourbon

Directions

  1. Prepare ham:

    Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove skin from ham, and trim fat to 1/4-inch thickness. Make shallow cuts in fat 3/4 inch apart in a diamond pattern.

    trimming ham

    Stacy K. Allen, Food Stylist: Torie Cox, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster

  2. Add cloves to ham, and make glaze:

    Insert cloves in centers of diamonds. Place ham in a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch pan. Stir together brown sugar and next 3 ingredients; spoon mixture over ham.

    glazed ham before baking in a casserole dish with bowl of glaze beside it

    Stacy K. Allen, Food Stylist: Torie Cox, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster

  3. Bake ham:

    Bake at 350°F on lowest oven rack 2 hours and 30 minutes, basting slowly with pan juices every 15 to 20 minutes.

    glazed ham with brush for glazing in a casserole dish

    Stacy K. Allen, Food Stylist: Torie Cox, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster

  4. Let ham cool:

    Remove ham from oven, and let stand 20 minutes before slicing, basting occasionally with pan juices.

    brown sugar-bourbon-glazed ham in dish ready to be served

    Stacy K. Allen, Food Stylist: Torie Cox, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster

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