Bourbon Baked Ham

I'm way behind on blogging, so there will be a few posts during the course of today. (Apologies for being so behind--anyone who knows me knows I have a tendency to get a bit obsessive when reading, so I've been more absorbed in my current reading, Drood. Book recommendation: if you like mysteries, or historical fiction, or a combination of the two, I highly recommend this book.) Anyway, my 'rents came up to visit last weekend, so we thought we would fix a dinner with a main dish that kind of prompted this blog in the first place. It's a Bourbon Baked Ham, another recipe from "Bon Appetit, Y'All" (a cookbook as well used in our house as any edition or cookbook of "Southern Living").

This really is a simple recipe that yields fantastic results:

Bourbon Baked Ham
1 Tbsp. canola oil
Half of a semi-boneless, ready-to-eat ham (5-6 lbs.), preferably shank end
1 c. honey (tupelo, orange blossom, or sweet clover)
1/2 c. sorghum, cane syrup, or molasses
1/2 c. bourbon (don't worry if you're not a fan of alcohol in food; my husband isn't either, but the alcohol bakes out and makes a great glaze for the ham, so I would not recommend skipping this ingredient)
1/4 c. freshly squeezed orange juice
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Brush the bottom of a large roasting pan with the canola oil.
-To prepare the ham, remove the skin and fat. Using a sharp knife, make 1/4-inch deep cuts in the meat in a diamond pattern (this will ensure the glaze gets absorbed into the ham, not just on the outside). Place the ham in the roasting pan. To make the glaze, heat the honey, sorghum (or cane syrup/molasses), bourbon, orange juice, and Dijon mustard in a saucepan over medium heat until just melted and combined.
-Pour the glaze over the prepared ham. Transfer to the oven and cook, basting every 30 minutes or so with the glaze on the bottom of the pan, for 2 to 2.5 hours, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest portion of the ham registers 140 degrees Fahrenheit. If the ham starts to overbrown, loosely tent with aluminum foil to prevent it from burning.
-Remove from the oven to a rack. Tent the ham loosely with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes to allow the juices to redistribute (do not skip this step--letting the meat rests ensures that the juices will be absorbed back into the ham, resulting in a juicy, not dry, slice of meat).
-Transfer to a cutting board, carve, and serve.

We served the ham with sides of creamed corn and toasted-pecan green beans (another two recipes from "Bon Appetit, Y'All") and toasted sourdough bread from a local bakery.

Creamed Corn
1 Tbsp. bacon fat or canola oil (to get bacon fat, saute four to six slices of bacon in a pan; you can crumble the leftover bacon over the green beans if you want to add more flavor to that, but canola oil works as well for this recipe)
Scraped kernels from 6 ears fresh sweet corn (we used thawed frozen corn because, obviously, fresh corn isn't in season yet; I think the fresh corn would have resulted in a better product because the moisture from the frozen corn kind of toughened up the kernels)
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
-In a large skillet, heat the bacon fat over medium heat until sizzling. Add the corn and season with salt and pepper. Cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Add the butter and stir to combine. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Toasted-Pecan Green Beans
1.5 lbs. haricots verts or other thin green beans, trimmed
1/4 c. olive oil
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1 clove garlic, very finely chopped
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
-Prepare an ice-water bath by filling a large bowl with ice and water.
-Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil over high heat. Add the beans and cook until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Drain well in a colander, then set the colander with beans in the ice-water bath (this is what is called "shocking," or quickly stopping the cooking process by submerging in iced water, which helps set the color of the beans and makes them crisp), making sure the beans are submerged.
-In the same pot, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the pecans and cook until toasted, about 5 minutes (a good rule of thumb to follow when toasting nuts is to notice when they become very fragrant; that is the point when they should be removed from heat). Add the garlic and basil; cook until fragrant, about 45 to 60 seconds.
-Drain the beans, shaking off the excess water, and return them to the pot. Toss to combine with the pecan mixture. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

For dessert, and as part of my Valentine's Day present, my husband (who knows I am not the biggest chocolate fan) came home with an orange/lemon cake from a local bakery. Amazing! I was even nice enough to share with the fam.