Whether it’s a holiday event or casual weekend get-together, bringing home a fully cooked ham for dinner makes “cooking” as easy as it gets: warm it in the oven for a while and it’s ready to serve.
But you can make the meal a little extra special by adding your own touch to the preparation. A simple spice rub gives savory aroma to the ham as well as great flavor. Instead of buying the ham already glazed, make a fresh topping yourself. And rather than warming it in the oven, take it out to the smoker (or turn your grill into a smoker) for that real smoked-ham flavor you just can’t get in pre-cooked meats—even if it says “smoked” on the label.
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Spice and Herb Rub for the Ham |
A simple, fresh, and fruity
sauce to spoon on top of the sliced ham adds great flavor contrast to the
dish—a balanced blend of smoky, salty, and sweet. And while pineapple is a
common accompaniment to ham, you can do more with it than lay canned rings on
top.
First, start with a fresh
pineapple. When a recipe has only three main ingredients, it’s important to go
fresh when you can. Chopped pineapple and apricot preserves melded with a
little butter and some seasoning are all you need to make a flavorful finish
for the dish. Doesn’t get easier than that.
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Chopped Fresh Pineapple |
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
For the Ham
- 1 tsp dried herb mixture, such as oregano, rosemary, thyme, and basil
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp ground coriander
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 3- to 4-lb, petit-cut ham
- olive oil, for drizzling
- apple juice (enough to fill the pan), cilantro sprigs, allspice berries, black peppercorns (or other aromatics) for the smoking liquid
For the Topping
- 1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup apricot preserves
- 1 1/4 cups chopped fresh pineapple
- 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
For the Ham
- Combine the first 6 ingredients (through black pepper) in a small bowl. Rub the mixture all over the ham and let rest at room temperature 30 minutes.
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Spice and Herb Rubbed Ham |
- When the coals are ready, scatter the wood chips over them. Place the smoking liquid ingredients in a pan and set on the rack above the coals.
- Drizzle the ham with olive oil and place on the off-heat side of the rack. Smoke 1 hour, turning once halfway through.
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Oil-Drizzled Ham Ready to Smoke |
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Ham Beginning to Smoke |
- Remove the ham to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes. Slice into serving pieces and spoon the pineapple-apricot sauce (recipes follows) on top, or serve the sauce alongside.
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Apple-Wood Smoked Ham |
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Sliced Apple-Wood Smoked Ham |
For the Topping
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the apricot, pineapple, and pepper flakes and season with salt and pepper. Stir slowly until the preserves have slightly melted and the sauce is syrupy.
- Remove from the heat and keep covered. Rewarm gently over low heat before using.
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Pineapple-Apricot Topping |
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