Baked Ham with Brown Sugar & Spice Glaze

Our hams (both the small sweetheart hams and the larger ones) are brined and smoked over applewood chips--so they're pretty much ready to heat up in the oven and serve. The hams can be baked essentially as is (the flavor from the brine and the smoking is already nice), but they bake up beautifully with a little bit of a spice rub or a glaze. The big hams are great for a holiday dinner, but honestly, the leftovers are so tasty (I'm always surprised by how quickly we finish off our hams!) that baking a large ham for just a few people will guarantee some pretty darn good sandwiches in your future.

Ingredients:

• ~5lb Ham (Bone-In, Boneless, or Sweetheart ham--if you have a big ham, double the glaze, for a small ham, use a bit less!)

• 1/2 cup (packed) brown sugar or maple syrup

• 1/2 cup bourbon or rye (you can also sub in cognac or brandy)

• 1 Tbsp whole grain mustard (optional)

• 1 Tbsp coriander

• 1 Tbsp cumin

• 2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper

• 1 tsp allspice

• 1/2 tsp cayenne

• Optional: Rough Chopped (about 1-2" pieces) Vegetables such as Onions, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Cabbage, Carrots or Apple (a fruit, I know), to put on the bottom of the pan to catch the drippings & glaze from the ham and to keep the ham from sticking to your dish!
  

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a baking dish, place chopped vegetables if using--feel free to give them the lightest dash of olive oil & salt at this point, but know they'll get plenty more flavor from the ham later on.

3. Unwrap the ham and score cross-hatches (about 1/4" deep) into the fat cap and rounded surface of the ham, this will allow your ham to crisp up nicely and to absorb more of the glaze into all the nooks and crannies.

4. In a bowl, mix together the glaze: sugar or maple syrup, bourbon, mustard, coriander, cumin, salt, pepper, allspice and cayenne.

5. Rub about half of the glaze all over the surface of the ham. Place the ham on top of the chopped veggies, or directly onto the baking dish, and bake for 30-45 minutes.

6. Take the ham out and pour the rest of the glaze over the ham.

7. Bake for another 30 min to 1 hr (more if you've got a larger ham), basting occasionally, until the ham reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees F.

8. Let the ham rest for about 10 minutes and then carve into it. Serve with the vegetables at the bottom of the pan. Enjoy!