Ham With Orange Glaze

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Baked Ham with Orange Glaze is an easy recipe. The glaze is made with orange marmalade, mustard, sherry and orange juice. You are going to love the ease of preparation and mostly the results. This easy baked ham is going to be the standout on your holiday buffet.

I absolutely love my collection of Williams Sonoma cookbooks. They give me great inspiration for dinners, side dishes, desserts - just about anything I want to cook. That's where the inspiration came from - their recipe with a spin of my own. This truly is the best method for baking ham. The glaze has a nice tang and zip from the mustard and a mellow sweetness from the marmalade and pineapple juice.

Easter is just around the corner. I like to plan ahead and you probably do too. When I think about the protein I always come back to ham as my store generally starts them on sale a few weeks before the actual holiday. Since ham is cryovac it keeps in the refrigerator for quite a while - just ask your butcher what he thinks for time. Also you can freeze the ham. It's one protein that does freeze well and doesn't loose flavor. I paid $1.00 per pound for this ham which is super budget-friendly. At that price I picked up this one and one for Easter.

The ham used in this recipe is the Shank portion of the ham. Shank ham is a wet-cured ham meaning it has been soaked in brine or injected with it. It is our go to ham because of the flavor and also that it often goes on sale for a really good price. Williams Sonoma strongly recommends using the shank ham and not a dry cured ham for this recipe and I wholeheartedly agree.

• Bone-in Shank Ham (8-10 lbs.)

FOR THE GLAZE:

• 1 cup orange marmalade
• 2 tbsp. orange juice
• 1/4 cup sherry
• 1/4 cup yellow mustard
• 1 small can pineapple slices (save the juice)

Optional - whole cloves for studding the ham

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Remove the skin from the ham leaving a layer of fat about 1/4 inch thick.
3. Set the ham fat side up in a large enough roasting pan to accommodate it. Liberally oil the pan or spray it with cooking spray. Add in the pineapple slices along with the juice.
4. While the oven is heating up - make the glaze. Add the marmalade and orange juice to a small sauce pot and over low heat melt the marmalade, stirring often.
5. When the marmalade is melted take off the heat and add in the sherry and mustard. Stir to combine. Set aside.
6. Roast the ham in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven. Score the fat in a diamond shape and add cloves if desired. Brush glaze all over the ham and return to the oven.
7. Roast one more hour - basting at least twice during the last hour and a final baste when it comes out.
8. Internal temperature of ham should be 160°. Move to a cutting board to rest for 10 minutes. Place the pineapple slices on a waiting platter.
9. Add about a half cup or so of water and place your roasting pan on the stovetop. Set your heat to medium high and using a whisk, try and get some of the good caramelized bits of the bottom.
10. Use a fat separator to trap the oil and any little chunks and pour the liquid into a small sauce pot.  Add the rest of the glaze and cook on low, stirring until incorporated. If you don't have a fat separator you can find one here.

Transfer ham to a platter and garnish with orange slices and serve with the sauce.

This Ham with Orange Glaze is the best ham. Hands down the best I have ever had and I believe that the method to bake it is the trick. It was so tender and juicy and that glaze is just amazing! And the pineapple? It gets so caramelized it tastes like candy. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of that - it looked as amazing as it tasted!

I baked this ham in my nonstick Calphalon roasting pan that I have had forever and is in really, really great shape - still looks new. When making something like this where you have a sticky glaze it definitely helps using nonstick cookware. The clean up is so much easier. If you are looking for one like mine you can find the roasting pan here.

Here's a photo of the ham with some slices off. Again, most tender best baked ham ever! By the way the brand of ham is an Alexander and Hornung product.

I served our Ham with Orange Glaze dinner with asparagus and potato gratin. The next day my husband and I could not wait for dinner so we could dive into this again. For my gratin recipe follow the link to Steakhouse Potato Gratin. The asparagus recipe isn't perfected yet so that will be a recipe for another day.

WANT TO KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH LEFT OVER HAM?

Here are some of my go to recipes.

1. Lentil Soup with Ham
2. Split Pea Soup with Ham
3. Red Lentil and Carrot Stew with Ham
4. Ham and Cannellini Bean Soup
5. Ham and Scalloped Potato Casserole