Honey mustard glazed ham

At least twice a year, over the Christmas period, I'm cajoled by the family to glaze a baked ham. I managed to find a recipe that works consistently well a few years ago in a New Zealand Healthy Food Guide and I've adapted with great success.

I usually make extra of the glaze and leave it to simmer a wee while to make a sauce for pouring over the ham. It also tastes great with new season boiled or steamed potatoes.

Instructions

For half a cooked ham (about 4.5kg) use:

• 1 cup of orange juice - I use any orange or orange-mix juice
• 0.5 cup of soft brown sugar
• 5 tablespoons of honey
• 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard - although I generally use 2 teaspoons of mustard powder instead

Mix the ingredients in a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir until all the sugar has melted and then allow to simmer until it's a thick consistency.

Once you've peeled the skin off the ham leaving the fat layer, scored a diamond pattern into the fat and popped a clove into the centre of each diamond (although we tend to put the clove into the corners instead), simply use a silicon brush to coat the ham with the glaze. If you like to add pineapples, secure rings on the ham using toothpicks and repeat the coating process.

Place the ham in the oven at around 180 degrees Celsius. I tend not to use fan bake, preferring to let the baking go long and slow. I know some people like to put a bit of water at the bottom of the roasting pan but I generally find that if you don't use fan bake, the juice from the ham and the glaze keeps it sufficiently moist.

Pull the ham out every twenty minutes or so to repeat the glazing process. Two hours should ensure that the ham has a nice caramel sheen and is warmed right through. Allow to stand for 10 minutes before carving.

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