I wish I was a better food photographer, because I love looking at beautifully crafted food. There are just some recipes that after you see the picture you know you just need to make. When I sifted through the Rachel Ray magazine right before Christmas looking for another protein to add to our Christmas dinner, I spotted the most amazing looking for ham in the December issue. It was perfectly glazed and look simply amazing. When I do ham I usually just do a simple brown sugar glaze (no not the packet of mystery crap that comes with the ham) and call it a day. This Christmas I wanted to do better and make a ham that was both picture and taste worthy. Thank you Rachel Ray for inspiring me to go out of my ham comfort zone and create a ham that the family will be talking about for holidays to come.

Rachael Ray Cherry & Chili-Glazed Ham

December 2012

Ingredients:

• 1 Smoked Spiral Ham or Smoked, cured bone-in ham (8 lbs)
• 1/2 cup cherry preserves
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 tbsp grainy mustard
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• salt and pepper freshly cracked black pepper
• pinch cayenne

Let the ham sit at room temperature for about 1 hour. Preheat oven (or roaster) at 325 degrees.

Transfer the ham to the roaster. Heat ham through for about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan combine preserves, brown sugar, mustard, coriander, chili powder, ginger, a pinch salt , 1/2 tsp. pepper and the cayenne. Bring to a simmer, stirring, to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat.

When the ham reaches an internal temperature of 130 degrees , increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees . Brush the top of the ham with half of the glaze and roast until the surface is dark brown and sizzling, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the ham to a cutting board with a moat and brush with the remaining glaze. Let rest for 20 minutes before slicing.

One of my cousins could not stop raving about the ham. He even took a plate home with him because it was that good. Other relatives asked for the recipe because they had not had a ham quite like this recipe. This would make a great Easter recipe as well. Now I am preparing an New Year’s Eve Tapas menu. We are doing our normal tradition of staying in and preparing tasty food. The girls are going to have friends over and we are going to ring in the New Year together. What are some of your plans?

Tweet

Tweet