My Favorite Baked Ham

Ham is expensive if you look at the total price, but if you break it down to how many meals you get out of it, it's often quite reasonable. I always get ham with a bone in so I can make some split pea or bean soup. Dice and freeze any leftover ham in 1 or 2 cup portions. Add it to scrambled eggs, bean soups, macaroni and cheese or quiche.

1 ham
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tsp. dry mustard
15 or so cloves

Preheat the oven to 350.

Put the ham on a rack in a shallow baking pan, fat side up. Read the directions on the ham to see how long to bake based on its weight. Bake unglazed until 1 hour before the ham is done.

Mix together the brown sugar, maple syrup, and dry mustard. Score the ham lightly (1/4") in a diamond pattern and then spread the sugar mixture over it. Put the cloves in the ham, evenly distributed. Bake for another hour.

Options: You can use honey instead of maple syrup. Add pineapple rings secured with toothpicks if you like.

Basting Sauce (optional)

1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 cup orange juice

Basting adds a good flavor to the ham but it's also quite good without it. If you are basting, mix together the basting sauce and baste the ham every 15 minutes.

Leftover ideas

Save the bone for split pea soup!
Add diced ham to your scrambled eggs and macaroni and cheese
Make a quiche
Make lo mein

Here's another ham recipe, with garlic and rosemary and baked at a lower temperature for longer.