Grocery Basket
ham, maraschino cherries, brown sugar, oranges, cloves, mustard seeds
Method
Missing Saucepan, Baking pan
Category
Main Event
Cook Time
60 minutes
This “Magic City” ham is like an American riff on your favorite sweet and sour pork dish from the local Chinese restaurant. Made of eight pounds of meat and fairly easy to prepare, this crimson-colored treat deserves a place at your tailgate or homegate for years to come.
A real bonus of this dish is the cook time. Since you’re using fully cooked ham, this dish only needs about an hour to cook. So if you need a meal centerpiece for a crowd but are short on time, our Birming Ham is a winner.
Ingredients
8 pound fully cooked ham
8-ounce jar red maraschino cherries
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup orange juice
½ teaspoon whole cloves
1 cup mustard seeds
2 medium oranges, sliced into ¼-inch rounds and then halved
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Place ham in a baking pan and bake for 30 minutes.
Drain the cherries, reserving the syrup.
Combine the brown sugar, cherry syrup, orange juice, cloves, and mustard seeds in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and reduce until thickened to a texture similar to maple syrup.
Remove the ham from the oven (but do not turn the oven off!), slice it in a cross-cross pattern, and use a basting brush to glaze with your cherry syrup.
Return to oven for 15 minutes.
Finish the ham with a broil for 3 minutes*, then serve immediately.
Recipe Note
Pro Tip:
Broiling meats at the end of their respective bake times gives a nice bubbly crisp to the top of your roasts.