Brown Sugar and Ice Wine Baked Country Ham

brown sugar and ice wine glazed baked country ham

by Michelle April 18, 2014

written by Michelle April 18, 2014

Brown Sugar and Ice Wine Glazed Baked Country Ham on a Thursday night. Ralph thought he’d died on gone to heaven. This is what a blogger, who is mother to three adult daughters, that will NOT be home for Easter, does to teach them how to prepare Easter dinner. Happy Easter Sweethearts!

For any Martha fans out there, you’ll recognize the ham baking technique from her “Entertaining” cook book. I think, it was her first publication. The big red hard covered book written when she was living in Connecticut pretending to be a “Suzie -homemaker”. History has proven she was a ‘homemaker – tycoon! That book was single-handedly responsible for my catering stint in the 1980’s. I baked a bazillion hams using her technique which leaves the ham moist and less salty than any other method that I’ve tried.

My glaze is a salute to Canadiana. I substituted an ice wine from the Niagara region for the more common apple or pineapple juice The result was lovely. However, I’m not suggesting that you go out and spend a fortune on a bottle of Ice Wine to throw on top of a ham. I just happened to have 1/4 cup left-over from a dinner party, which wouldn’t be enough to share, so I didn’t feel guilty using it. You can use any sweet wine you have, confidently. You’re looking to cut the saltiness of the ham.

Having said that, no matter how you slice it, ham is salty. To compensate, I paired it with a slightly sweet and very fresh pineapple and white cabbage slaw in a tangy poppy-seed dressing. For the starch, I chose pop-overs stuffed with feta. click the link and substitute feta for the chevre. The whole thing is a bit unorthodox but super easy and absolutely bunny – worthy!

Brown Sugar and Ice Wine Glazed Baked County Ham
Preheat the oven to 300*F

7-pound uncooked smoked ham, bone-in
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup Dijon mustard
¼ cup honey
¼ cup ice wine

THE STEPS:

Line a roasting pan with two pieces of foil making a cross.
Put the ham on the foil, fat-side up.
Wrap well with first piece of foil. Then close the second pieces so that the ham is completely covered.
Bake for 2-1/2 hours.
Remove from oven, unwrap, and with a large, sharp knife cut off the rind leaving 1/4 inch of fat.
Score the fat in a diamond pattern, making the lines 1 inch apart.
Make a glaze by whisking together the remaining ingredients.
Pour out any pan juices and lightly coat the ham with 1/3 of the glaze and return it to the oven for 20 minutes
Increase oven temperature to 325*F
Spoon more of the glaze over the ham and return to oven.
Repeat once more
Remove to a serving platter and allow it to rest for at least 20 minutes.

THE LOVE: Take your time trimming the rind and fat from the ham. Use the sharpest knife you have, make slow deliberate slashes as you pull the fat away from the ham. It should come off in one big slab!