Happy Easter! Along with the hunt for colourful eggs and some beautiful spring tulips, the most important accessory for a perfect Easter celebration? A beautiful, glazed ham!
With only three simple ingredients, this balsamic Dijon glaze just might become your new favourite Easter Dinner! The key to this recipe is using high-quality ingredients. We recommend an 18-year aged balsamic, a good Dijon (try the Brassica brand sold at our Calgary meat shop, or pick up something local at the Calgary Farmer’s Market) and fresh brown sugar (none of that stale, left-in-your-pantry-for-months brown sugar).
This simple, but delicious recipe, comes courtesy of Barefeet in the Kitchen:
Author: Mary Younkin, adapted from Epicurious
Skill Level: Easy
Servings: 12 people
Prep Time: 10 minutes (remove ham from fridge 1-2 hours prior to roasting)
Cook Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes – 1 hour, 40 minutes depending on the size of the ham
Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes – 1 hour, 50 minutes
Ingredients:
We recommend an 8-10 lb local, free-range pre-cooked ham from Spragg’s Meat Shop!
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (high-quality aged balsamic is a must!)
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Instructions:
Remove the ham from the fridge 1-2 hours before you plan to put it into the oven, so it has time to come almost to room temperature.
Place your beautiful ham on a large cutting board and with a sharp knife, score the ham about 1/2″ deep in a diamond pattern. To clarify what this means, when you look down at the ham, start from one end and cut in a straight line to the other end of the ham, making a 1/2″ deep cut across the top. Then repeat this an inch over, slicing the ham from one side to the other in a straight line. Then turn the ham or your knife 90 degrees and repeat these cuts. Your ham should look like a checkerboard when you are done. While it may seem complicated, it takes only a few minutes, and it allows for your delicious glaze to reach deeper into the ham, increasing the flavour. You don’t want to miss this step!
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees, line a large roasting pan with foil and place your ham cut-side down. Set your timer for 45-50 minutes. As the ham is roasting, combine the rest of your ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Remove your ham from the oven and generously baste with the glaze, using about 1/4 of the glaze. Return to the oven and continue to roast the ham until it is deep brown, continuing to brush the ham with more of your glaze every 10 minutes or so. In total, an average of 10 minutes cooking time per pound of ham should be just right.
Transfer the ham to a large platter and let rest 10-15 minutes prior to slicing. (We know your mouths are watering, but be patient for this part!)
TIP: When glazing a ham, basting is your friend – make sure to do this several times during the cooking process. A generous brush of glaze every 10 minutes at the end will also make every bite flavourful (not to mention Instagram worthy!).
Come into our meat shop in Rosemary or Calgary, or stop by our two booths at the Calgary Farmers’ Market to pick up your free-range, local Easter ham! We also recommend pre-ordering your ham for special requests. Check out our website and call us today.
SPRAGG’S MEAT SHOP CALGARY
9675 Macleod Trail SE
Calgary, AB, T2J 0P6
P: 403.255.1232
E: calgarystore@spraggsmeatshop.com
SPRAGG’S MEAT SHOP ROSEMARY
438 Centre St
Rosemary, AB, T0J 2W0
P: 403.378.3800
E: meatshop@spraggsmeatshop.com