Usually I bake a ham for Christmas, and usually I put a glaze on it that evolved out of a recipe I found on the internet years ago. This year it evolved further, and it came out pretty good. Unfortunately I didn't measure, but here's more or less what went into it:
Ingredients:
1 can frozen concentrated apple juice
maple syrup (this is what I didn't measure - I used a lot, though, maybe a cup or more)
Gateway to the North Maple Garlic Seasoning - 1 tbsp
Sichuan pepper (but from Japan: goes under the name sanshÅ) - 1 tbsp
1. Mix the apple juice and maple syrup in a saucepan. Heat on medium until melted and mixed.
2. Mix in the spices and simmer for a while.
The Maple Garlic seasoning was something Joanna gave us for Christmas - very tasty stuff (thanks!). And it somehow mixed wonderfully with the sansho. Sansho, as the wiki says, is not at all the same as normal pepper - kind of peppery tasting, but has a nice herby fragrance that sets it apart. Anyway, it all went together nicely.
3. Heat your oven to 325. Put the ham (ready-to-eat) in a glass baking dish and pop in a meat thermometer.
4. Score the ham with a knife. Drizzle the glaze over liberally. We were only cooking for two, and the above measurements make far more than we needed for a 2-lb ham. But since juice concentrate only comes in one size, there's not much we could do about the extra. If we'd poured it all on the ham would have been swimming. The point for you is: this recipe will make enough glaze for a much larger ham.
5. Bake the ham, uncovered, until it reaches an internal temp of 145. While baking, take it out every 20 minutes or so to spoon the glaze over it.
The result: some of the excess liquid will evaporate, and what's left will have mixed with the ham's juices to leave a very sweet, very tasty gravy. We usually have ham with mashed potatoes and steamed peas, and the gravy is good on all of it.
