Baked Ham Recipe

Cooking Ham With Gravy

Mar 11, 2008 Trevy Thomas

Cook a ham to serve for Easter, Christmas or Sunday dinner, then use the leftovers for easy weeknight meals.

Ham is a traditional holiday meat that makes an economical and easy way to serve a large gathering. The leftovers are versatile enough to keep cooking to a minimum for a few days after the big meal. Many cooks serve ham with a traditional brown sugar and pineapple sauce, but this savory version is a refreshing change that creates its own gravy base. Try serving a pineapple relish on the side for a nod to tradition.

Fully-cooked or partially-cooked hams

A ham can be purchased either partially or fully-cooked, and the package will be labeled as such. Cook a partially-cooked ham to an internal roasting temperature of 160 degrees, and heat a fully-cooked ham to 140 degrees. Small ham steaks are also available, and provide a good opportunity to enjoy ham any weeknight.

Leftover Uses for Ham

Save the bone from cooked ham and use to it make a stock. Then add chopped cooked ham and veggies for an easy soup. The gravy in this recipe can be added to the stock for delicious flavor. It also makes a wonderful split pea or ham and lentil soup. The chopped cooked ham can be used for a ham salad, or simply slice and make ham sandwiches. Omelets and quiche are other ways to use leftover ham for breakfast or lunch. Cut into small pieces, ham is a great accompaniment to cheese and crackers.

Ham Recipe

Ingredients:

1 12-pound ham
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 medium shallots, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled & sliced
3 celery stalks, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Handful fresh oregano
Handful fresh Italian parsley
Salt and pepper
2 cups white wine
1 quart water
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/3 cup flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large Dutch oven or other ovenproof pan big enough to hold ham, sauté shallots, onion, carrots, celery, garlic and herbs in olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter about 10 minutes.
Season lightly with salt and pepper.
Add wine and water and bring to a boil. Add ham.
Cover pot and bake in oven one hour.
Turn ham over, re-cover and cook one additional hour or until ham reaches internal temperature of 160 degrees (for partially cooked, or 140 degrees if the ham was fully cooked before purchase).
Remove ham and keep warm with foil.
Strain and reserve cooking liquid, and discard vegetables.
Mix room temperature butter with flour and cook in a medium stockpot about 3 minutes.
Pour cooking liquid into stock pot with butter-flour mixture and whisk.
Simmer, stirring, until sauce is smooth and thickened.
Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
Serve sauce with sliced ham.

The copyright of the article Baked Ham Recipe in Recipes is owned by Trevy Thomas. Permission to republish Baked Ham Recipe in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.