This is a Tale of Two Hams. Both are crazy-delicious and outrageously simple to make– and both use the same simple trick to bring them to glory.
We created the Brown Sugar and Cola Glazed Ham pictured above for Anolon, and they in turn made this great video which shows just how easy it is to prepare. (The video has something like 200,000 views!) Go here for the recipe.
Days later, we made this Ginger Ale and Rum Glazed Ham. It has equally robust, great flavor– and a hit of piquant heat from the ginger.
Have you figured out the “secret” to great ham? It’s soda. It might sound crazy at first*, but Southerners have been baking ham with cola for generations, because they know that caramelized sugary liquid does wonders to the salty, savory meat. All you need to do is pour a little soda– cola or ginger ale, depending on your preference– and another liquid (we used orange juice with the cola and rum with the ginger ale) over the ham at the start. You take more of those same liquids and boil them madly in a saucepan along with two or three other ingredients (mustard, brown sugar, jelly, etc) until they become a thick syrupy glaze, then brush the ham with the glaze as it cooks. It’s really that simple and mistake-proof.
Your dinner is taken care of. Now let’s go rejoice. We all deserve it.
*I don’t even drink the stuff, but I appreciate what a great ingredient it can be.
| Servings 20 servings | |
- 10 pound shank half, bone-in ham (or a spiral cut ham)
- 36 ounces ginger ale, divided
- 1 cup rum, divided
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup apple jelly
- 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
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- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Trim the excess fat and use the tip of your knife to make 1/4-inch deep scores all over the surface of the ham in a diamond pattern. Place the ham in a large (preferably nonstick) roasting pan and pour 1 ½ cups of the ginger ale and ½ cup of the rum over the meat. Tent loosely with foil and roast 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- While the ham roasts, combine the remaining 3 cups ginger ale, remaining ½ cup rum, brown sugar, apple jelly and Dijon in a saucepan; stir until well-combined and bring to a boil. Continue to boil gently until it is thickened to a syrupy consistency, 45-50 minutes.
- After the ham has cooked for the initial 1 hour and 15 minutes, remove the foil. Brush the ham with some of the glaze. Return it to the oven and roast for 15 minutes, and again brush with glaze. Continue roasting and brushing every 15 minutes until a meat thermometer inserted in the center registers 145F degrees, about another 1 hour and 15 minutes.
399 calories, 26 g protein, 13 g carbohydrates, 0 fiber, 25 g fat, 8 g saturated fat, 1414 mg sodium
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