Whole ham???

[pdswife]

I have a whole huge ham thawing in the sink for dinner tomorrow.

What should I do with it? lol, I have no idea.

HELP please!!!

TIA

smiles, T

 

[VeraBlue]

Is it salted/smoked or fresh?

 

[Gretchen]

Is it a cured ham--smoked and all? Is it really a WHOLE ham or the butt or shank.
Anyway, if a smoked ham, stick it in a roasting pan and roast at 350* for 20 minutes/pound. Might be for tomorrow however.

 

[kitchenelf]

Ditton on the questions i.e., is it an already fully-cooked spiral sliced...or raw?

If it's already cooked it just needs heating as Gretchen suggested. I'll wait to say more until I find out what it is.

 

[VeraBlue]

The suspense is killing me....I hope it will last...

(do you know what movie that line is from?)

 

[pdswife]

It's a hickory smoked ham butt 9 pounds. (With lots of fat on the outside of it.)

THANKS!!!!

 

[Constance]

If it's a whole bone-in ham, lucky you. That's one of my favorite treats. We do those for Christmas every year.
We have one of those big electric roasters that we use, as I usually have other things going in the oven. Kim trims off some of the excess fat, and adds a little water to the bottom of the pan, which actually steams the meat, making it very tender.
I've also done a lot of them in the oven, as Gretchen suggests, although I like to score the fat on top and tent it with foil for the first few hours. Then I remove the foil, baste with a glaze and finish cooking uncovered to crisp up the skin. I'm ashamed to admit that I love to pick off bits of crispy skin and fat to nibble on.
Be sure to save the bone, some of the skin and fat and some scraps of the fat for a big pot of ham'n beans or other dish...black-eye peas, split peas, crowder peas, green beans, lima beans, greens, lentils, etc.

 

[pdswife]

LOL... Constance.. it's a nine pound ham. There will be lots left over. Ham sandwiches, split pea soup and Pasta with bacon and ham. I can't wait.

 

[VeraBlue]

Soak it in water overnight. This will help some of the salt leech out. Essentially, the ham is already cooked, so all you really have to do is bring it up to temperature.

I'd remove some of the fat and make a brown sugar glaze. Roast it slowly for a couple of hours, covered. Add the glaze during the last half hour, uncovered.

I'd serve it with sweet potatoes, green beans, and sauteed apples.

And please please please, save that bone! Red beans and rice will magically appear on your stovetop if you do

 

[pdswife]

No worries, the bone will be saved!!!

( will a recipe for red beans and rice also magically appear?? )

Thanks Vera, brown sugar it will be and I love sweet potatoes!!

 

[kitchenelf]

Around here you save the bone and a big pot of pinto beans and cornbread magically appear!!!!

 

[abjcooking]

After adding cloves to ham:

1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup honey mustard
1/2 cup honey
1 t. ginger spice
2 cups apple juice
1 cup pineapple juice
1 cup Maderia
2 cups dried apricot halves
1 cup golden raisins

Combine 1st 4 ingredients. Coat ham. Pour apple juice and pineapple juice into roasting pan. Bake. Before the last 1 1/2 of cooking add madeira, apricot and raisins to pan.

 

[thymeless]

I'Ve never understood cloves with ham. Not a flavor i'm partial too. Yes it's decorative, but it's not good for the flavor IMO.

That said, I've never had a BAD ham. But cloves with pineapple is the closest you can come to making a bad ham.

thymeless

 

[Constance]

Pdswife, the hams we buy for the holidays are generally 16-18 lbs. But then, we're usually feeding the kids, grandkids, and extended family, too. I always send home care packages with them, which leaves just enough for Kim and I to have a couple days of sandwiches, and a meal of ham'n scalloped potatoes, then I freeze the scraps in several different bags for seasoning or ham salad.

 

[pdswife]

but... pineapple with ham is great.
( I've never had it with cloves.....)

I'm going with the brown sugar glaze this time abj..but I'll keep your recipe in mind for some other time. Do the cloves get soft or do you remove them before serving??

Thanks again!!!

 

[pdswife]

I'm really looking forward to the leftovers more than the main meal. Scalloped potatoes!! I'd forgotten about those. We'll prbly have enough for that too.

 

[Constance]

Mmm, yum, Vera. I have actually put the whole sweet potatoes in with the ham to cook. Divine!

 

[abjcooking]

The cloves come out after. To be honest, I have never had (cooked) a ham without them. My mom use to always use them and I have too since then. The recipe that I posted called for the cloves as well, but I'm sure you don't have to use them.

 

[kitchenelf]

yep, my Mom always made a glaze with the brown sugar (and other things, not just brown sugar) and then did pineapple slices, studded with whole cloves, and then in the holes of the pineapple was a cherry.

 

[pdswife]

The glaze I am going to use is 1 cup karo syrup, 1/3 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup brown mustard. Does that sound alright? I might add some pineapple too ( just because I love it)