Perfect Glazed Ham in a CROCKPOT

This is the half we had left after our Easter meal...
The title's a bit misleading, because I did brush a last layer of glaze on this as soon as we arrived home. 20 minutes in the oven is all it took, though!

In the last 7 1/2 years of marriage, I've baked my fair share of succulent holiday hams. This year was no exception, except that John had to work Easter Sunday afternoon. We had roughly an hour from the time we arrived home from church to the time he had to leave for work. This complicated things, but I still wanted a feast, which is why, with trepidation, I found myself looking for "Crockpot Ham" instructions on Google the night before.

The next morning, I slapped together a brown-sugar glaze, slathered it over the ham, stuffed it in the crockpot, and left for church, almost dreading what I'd find when I returned. We love baked ham, and I was pretty sure that crockpot ham just wasn't going to cut it.

No worries. It was juicy, flavorful, and downright delicious. Millie said she wants crockpot ham next year, too. (!) John, a ham connoisseur and great lover off all things pig, gave it two thumbs up. Whew!

So, here's a recipe for the day that you're in a pork pinch-- a day when you want oven ham but can't have it. Then, if you like it, give me five! If you hate it, forget you ever knew me.

The ham is ham. Always good.

The glaze is a finger-lickin', sweet-savory mixture of sugar, mustard, and aromatic spice.

HAM:
One eight-pound ham, bone-in and NOT spiral sliced. A spiral sliced ham will dry out with the prolonged cooking time, and a ham with bone-in will retain its juices better.

GLAZE:
1 and 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 - 3/4 tsp. dry mustard, to taste
some honey (2-3 tablespoons?)
ground cloves, to taste (I shook pretty liberally)
I believe I sprinkled on a touch of allspice, too
a few tablespoons of orange juice, if desired
about 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, if desired, to taste

Mix all ingredients together. I added orange juice and Dijon mustard so make a thick paste. Spread on the bottom of the crockpot and rub all over the ham. Place in crockpot, cover with lid, and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Crockpots vary in temperature. Ours was easily ready in 6 hours. Don't overcook, or the ham will become dry.

If desired, remove ham from crockpot after about 6 hours and place in a large baking dish. Mix a few tablespoons of cornstarch with a small amount of cold water until dissolved. Pour the juices from the crockpot into a saucepan and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens and begins to boil. Brush some of the mixture over the ham and bake an additional 15-20 minutes in a hot oven until the glaze has baked nicely onto the surface, brushing on a coat of glaze every 5 minutes or so. Remove ham from oven and tent with tin foil. Let sit for about 15 minutes to allow the juices to redistribute before slicing. Use the additional glaze from the saucepan to pour on served ham, if desired.

Sour Cherry Sauce for Ham

This is a most excellent fruit sauce for ham. My mom's been serving it to us every holiday ham dinner since I can remember, and the tart sweetness of the sauce combined with the salty sweetness of the ham is heavenly. I'd love to give you her exact recipe, but I can't, because she doesn't have one. Here's the basic idea, though, thanks again to the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

A jar of sour cherries, canned by Mopsy, pitted and drained (Okay, I guess the cherries don't have to come from my mom)
3 tbsp. brown sugar
4 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
dash of ground cloves
1 cup apple juice
1 tablespoon vinegar
a few drops of red food coloring, opt.

In a medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir in apple juice, vinegar, and, if desired, food coloring. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Stir in as many of the drained cherries as looks right (the cookbook recommends 16 oz.). Heat through. Serve warm spooned over ham. Makes 2 and 1/4 cups sauce.

Spiced Honey Glaze for Ham

The glaze I used for the ham this year couldn't be simpler, and it's yummy, to boot. Any amount of brown sugar, honey, butter, and cloves could be used, depending on which flavor you want to be most pronounced, and a bit of ground mustard could also be added.

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup butter
1/4 tsp. cloves, plus more to taste
a few smidges of ground mustard
dash nutmeg

Increase these amounts depending on the size of your ham, and before placing ham into the oven, stud it all over with whole cloves.

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat and cook, while stirring, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.

Baste the ham with the glaze before placing in the oven and continue to baste about every fifteen minutes until the ham is done. (I wasn't home to do this, so I just basted it once at the beginning and then liberally slapped more on when I got home for the last 1/2 hour of cooking.) The heat may be turned up for the last ten minutes or so of cooking time if the glaze hasn't caramelized sufficiently.

Scalloped Potatoes with Ham

I know it's the wrong season to be sharing this stick-to-your-ribs potato recipe-- it's not even potato salad! I also know that this potato dish is unphotogenic, but if you like scalloped potatoes, you really should try this recipe out.

It's the one I grew up eating, and we ate it as a main dish then, just as my family now does. Side trip: when we first were married, John seriously told me that he liked his food "bland and dry." Well, as is evidenced by his great love for all things spicy, his tastes have broadened a bit. Though he still avows that he hates creamy main dishes, he's had a passion for these scalloped potatoes since I made them that first year. He made them for us this past Sunday, and they were the best I've ever had.

Unlike some scalloped potato recipes, this one gets its simple and delicious flavor without the use of cheese, which may be why it slipped past John's Radar of Savory Creaminess.

***For the unsurpassed ones he made this past Sunday, he used whole milk (I usually skimp and use skim), and though he made a double batch, he used a slightly lesser amount of potatoes and a slightly larger amount of the onion mixture.) Here's the recipe for a single batch, but you can increase the onion mixture slightly if you want to copy John.

2 pounds potatoes (@ 6 medium), sliced: We never peel the potatoes, though the recipe calls for them to be, and we use a food processor to slice them thinly. If you aren't ready to use them right away, either prepare the other parts of the recipe first or put the sliced potatoes in a bowl of water with a bit of salt to prevent them from browning.

one onion, peeled and quartered, chopped together with
3 tablespoons flour,
1 tsp. salt,
and 1/4 tsp. pepper: We use the processor for this, too, which chops the onions into infinitesimal pieces that permeate the whole dish with flavor.

Add 2 cups of milk (whole, if you want the best) to the onion mixture and mix well. (If you're using a processor, just pulse the milk together with the onion mixture.)

Chopped, cooked ham, in whatever amount you'd like

Layer half of the sliced potatoes in the bottom of a large, ovenproof bowl.
Layer 1/2 of the milk/onion mixture on top.
Layer on 1/2 of the chopped ham.
Dot with 1-2 tablespoons butter.

Repeat layers and top with a bit of additional chopped ham, if desired.
Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for an additional 1- 1 and 1/2 hours, or until the potatoes are tender.