When I bake a ham, I always use bone-in hams. I love the flavor and texture of these hams, and they’re really easy to make. Plus, they can feed a crowd, which is great for big gatherings during the holiday season. Also, this is the time of year for tradition, and perhaps no food screams tradition more than a Christmas ham.
But one of the best things about making a bone-in ham is being able to score the crust and drizzle it with loads of delicious sweet glaze. Then, after the baking time, you have a delicious ham with a sweet, sticky, flavorful crust and enough glaze left over to smother the ham on your dinner plate and let it ooze into the mashed potatoes.
(READ MORE: Courters’ Kitchen: How to fix low-stress holiday ham)
The beauty of this glaze is that it uses simple ingredients, most of which you most likely have in your pantry or refrigerator: butter, brown sugar, honey, mustard and orange juice. Loaded with flavor, the sweetness of the glaze is a good match with the saltiness of the baked ham.
There are few places in the world where the hindquarters of a swine are celebrated as much as they are in the South. One only has to step into the back rooms at Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams and Bacon in Madisonville, Tennessee, and take a deep breath to realize that.