Mustard-Marmalade Glazed Ham

Nine years. It feels like forever, and it feels like no time at all!! Yesterday was our 9 year anniversary, and even though we technically had our early celebration back in December, with the office party and hotel and all, we ended up with a little extra this month and went back to Panzano, our new favorite restaurant, for lunch! The Geologist got the day off and we had a decadent lunch date. Now, I have to show you why this place is my favorite restaurant EVER.

First, the tapenade that converted me to tapenade. I am not a huge fan of olives. I would go as far as to say I just don't like them. But this stuff is YUMMY!! It's full of sun-dried tomatoes and capers and something else that just makes it tangy and addictive. I need to find a recipe just like it. Then there's my favorite dish on the menu: The deep-fried brussels sprouts appetizer. Crispy sprouts topped with an apple cider reduction, pistachios, rosemary salt and green apples. The salty, sweet, crunchy HEAVENLY flavor combination!! I could seriously just come here and eat plates and plates of these things!! AND when I raved about them, the chef sent me out a print-out of the recipe!! I can't wait to try making them myself!

Our entrees were spectacular too, but honestly these two are my favorite part. A little bread basket with a dish of tapenade, and a plate full of brussels sprouts. I was proud of the GEologist though, he tried scallops! He's very picky about seafood. He liked them, but they weren't his favorite thing in the world. My mushroom risotto with plate-lickingly good. Forget gifts, this is how we celebrate! He's still my best friend, and the love of my life, and my favorite person. I'm a lucky girl :)

Mustard-Marmalade Glazed Ham (adapted from Cooks Illustrated)
Printable Recipe

1 spiral-sliced, bone-in half ham (7 to 10 pounds)
1 large plastic oven bag

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup orange marmalade
2 Tb unsalted butter
3 Tb Dijon mustard
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

Leaving ham's inner plastic or foil covering intact, place ham in large container and cover with hot tap water and let sit for 45 minutes. Drain and cover again with hot tap water, let sit for another 45 minutes, and drain. (This raises the internal temperature of the ham, decreasing the cooking time, and leaving you with a juicier ham!)

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 250 degrees. Unwrap ham and remove and discard all plastic and foil packaging. Place ham in oven bag, cut side down in the bottom of the bag. Gather top of bag tightly  around the top of the ham and tie it. Set ham cut-side down in large roasting pan and cut 4 ventilation slits in top of bag.

Bake ham for 1 to 1 1/2 hours (about 10 minutes per pound). While the ham is baking, prepare your glaze. Combine all ingredients in small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thick, syrupy, and reduced to 1 cup, then set aside.

Remove ham from the oven and increase oven temperature to 350 degrees. Cut open the bag and roll back sides to expose ham. Brush ham with 1/3 of the glaze and return to oven to bake until glaze becomes sticky, about 10-15 minutes.

Remove ham from oven, transfer to cutting board, and brush entire ham with another third of glaze. Let ham rest, loosely tented with foil, for 15 minutes. While ham rests, heat remaining third of glaze with 4 to 6 tablespoons of ham juices until it forms a thickened sauce. Carve and serve ham, serving with sauce over the top.

Easter is coming up soon, and ham is the classic Easter holiday dinner, right? How many of you have never had a yummy ham? Until I tried this recipe, ham was never my favorite thing. Just never flipped my lid. But The Geologist kept begging for ham, so I caved and tried this one out. And was instantly converted!! You might notice there's no salt in this recipe. Leave it that way! Ham has plenty of salt by itself!

The bag method leaves the ham tender and juicy, while the glaze turns into savory, sweet stickiness all over. And a scrumptious sauce!! It's soooo good, you'll be looking forward to leftovers! Sometimes we even fight over the orange peel bits. A bit of peel with a bit of ham... Yummmm!