Recipes courtesy of eatpork.org

Baked ham is an Easter favorite for many, but with these three awesome reccipes, you’ll want to serve ham often.

Ham with Brown Sugar & Thyme

INGREDIENTS

• 6-8 pound fully-cooked bone-in ham
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
• Zest of half of 1 orange
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 2 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

PREPARATION

Arrange the oven rack to its lowest position and pre-heat oven to 320 F. Use a sharp knife to score the ham in a diamond pattern, making sure not to go more than ½ deep. Place the ham flat side down on a rack set in a roasting pan and loosely cover the ham with tin foil. Place in the oven for 2 hours.

Meanwhile: make the glaze by adding the brown sugar and next 6 ingredients to a small pot set over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar dissolves and then lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes so the flavors can develop. Remove from the heat and set aside.

After two hours, remove the roasting pan with the ham from the oven and place on the counter. Use a basting or pastry brush to paint the brown sugar glaze all over the ham, making sure to get in-between the diamond patterns. Place the ham back in the oven, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Repeat this process and bake for another 20 minutes. The ham is heated through when the internal temperature of the ham reaches 140 degrees F. The glaze will form a fantastic crust on the ham and get nice and sticky. Remove ham from oven and serve.

To make a smaller ham that still has the traditional flavors, have your butcher cut ¾ inch ham steaks. Some retailers offer ham steaks in the meat case so either look for them or ask the butcher. Pre-heat a cast iron pan over medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Place the ham steaks in the pan and allow to sear undisturbed for 1.5-2 minutes. When a nice crust has formed, flip and repeat. Remove the ham steaks from the oven and lower the heat to low. Spoon some over the glaze over the sides of the ham steaks and place back in the pan for 30-60 seconds on each side so the glaze can become sticky and caramelized. Remove from the pan and enjoy.

8 servings

Sweet Southern Slow Cooker Ham

INGREDIENTS

• 1 bone-in fully-cooked ham about 5 1/2 pounds
• 1 cup apple cider
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup Kentucky bourbon *
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup Dijon-style mustard
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme

PREPARATION

Place the ham in a large slow cooker. Whisk the cider with the brown sugar, bourbon, honey and mustard. Slowly pour over the ham. Scatter the thyme sprigs into the slow cooker.

Cook, on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours, or until very tender. Remove ham to rest on a cutting board. Pass the remaining cooking liquid through a fine mesh sieve into a saucepan. Simmer for 10 minutes or until slightly reduced. Cut the ham into chunks. Brush the cut pieces with the cooking liquid before arranging on a platter. Serve warm or room temperature.
Serves 12
*For a non-alcoholic alternative: replace the bourbon with 1/4 cup water and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract.

Spiral Cut Ham with Asparagus & Thyme

INGREDIENTS

• 7-8 pound spiral-sliced smoked ham bone-in
• 2 1/2 pounds asparagus
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest finely shredded
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme OR parsley, snipped

PREPARATION

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Place ham on rack in a shallow baking pan. Cover pan tightly with foil. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest portion (not touching bone) registers 135 degrees F. (about 15 minutes per pound).

Meanwhile, remove and discard woody stems from asparagus spears. Arrange asparagus in a 15 x 10 x 2-inch baking pan. Drizzle with cooking oil. Sprinkle with lemon pepper seasoning. When ham reaches 135 degrees F., add asparagus to oven. Roast about 30 minutes more or until asparagus is tender and ham registers 140 degrees F.

For lemon sauce, in a 1 1/2-quart saucepan combine cornstarch, sugar, bouillon granules and pepper. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon peel. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Cook and stir until mixture is bubbly. Cook for 2 minutes more. Stir in butter and snipped thyme or parsley.

To serve, slice ham. Serve with asparagus and lemon sauce. (Use remaining ham for sandwiches or another recipe.)