Recipe of the Week: Baked Ham with Ginger

Ham is a bit of a no-brainer. A good smoked ham is ready for the oven—all you need are some cloves and a roasting pan. The ginger beurre blanc in this recipe is definitely an indulgence, and completely unnecessary, which makes it that much more enjoyable.

Recipe abridged from Cooking Meat

Serves 10 to 12

1                          smoked ham, preferably skin on and bone in, about 10 lbs
20                        whole cloves
2 cans                  ginger ale (divided)
1 cup                   water
1 cup                   white wine
3 Tbsp                 fresh ginger, chopped
2                          bay leaves (dried is fine)
4                          thyme sprigs
to taste                salt and pepper
½ cup                  butter, cold, cut in small cubes

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.

2. Using a sharp knife, score the skin of the ham in a cross-hatch pattern at 2-inch intervals. Press a clove into every other X of the crosshatch, spacing them evenly.

3. Set the ham on the baking rack and pour 1 can of ginger ale and the water into the roasting pan. Cover the ham with aluminum foil and bake for 2 hours, or until hot all the way through. A meat thermometer inserted in the ham should read about 150°F.

4. Remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes, or until the skin is dry and dark golden. Remove from the oven and cool.

5. While the ham is roasting, make the beurre blanc. Pour one can of ginger ale into a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the wine, ginger, bay leaves, and thyme, and bring to a simmer. Reduce the liquid to 1 cup, about 5 minutes, then turn down the heat to very low. Whisk in the cold butter, bit by bit, until the sauce is emulsified. Strain the beurre blanc through a fine-mesh sieve into a gravy boat.

6. To serve, slice the ham and arrange on a platter. Serve the beurre blanc alongside.