Country Ham

I made this recipe for a family reunion and received one of the best compliments ever. An elderly Southern woman, who was a guest at the reunion, came up to me after eating this ham and said, “Now this is what a ham is supposed to taste like.”

What can I say? I am still grinning.

1 Ham (5 to 6 pounds)     

1 ½ cups dark brown sugar

¼ cup pineapple juice

¼ cup maple syrup

½ teaspoon Watkins cinnamon

½ teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon allspice

15 whole cloves

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Mix together brown sugar, pineapple juice, maple syrup, cinnamon, ginger, allspice in a saucepan and heat over medium heat. Bring mixture to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool.

Cut away some of the fat from the ham and with a sharp knife score the ham in a diamond pattern cutting ¼ inch deep so that the glaze penetrates into the ham.

Place ham into roasting pan and spread generously with marinade Reserve a ½ cup of marinade to serve with ham. Stud the ham with whole cloves into the center of each diamond. Cover roasting pan and bake ham for 4 hours basting several times with pan drippings. Remove ham from roaster and place on platter. Serves 6 to 8.

Tip: Ham may be cooked the day of serving or the day before.

Print this recipe: Country Ham Recipe from TheNewlyWedGuru.com

This recipe and many others available now in The Newlywed Guru’s fantastic cookbook for new couples: “I Do, Now Let’s Eat!”