Brown Sugar Mustard Glazed Virginia Ham

Take all of the guesswork out of preparing a large ham with this recipe! Brown Sugar Mustard Glazed Virginia Ham is easy to prepare and it looks incredible! This ham is perfectly baked, is moist and tender, and has a sweet and sticky glaze with just a little bite to it – you will hope for leftovers because this ham is too good to not have some the next day!

I am completely in love with the taste of this ham! Normally, I find ham to be a bit too salty for my personal tastes. But, this one is not, because not only is it baked and basted in a homemade glaze, but it is boiled first, which helps to not only cook and tenderize the ham, but it will also remove some of the saltiness. Brown Sugar Mustard Glazed Virginia Ham is about to become one of your favourite holiday mains!

This recipe is quite easy to follow and shouldn’t be intimidating at all. In fact, once the ham is boiling, you can go ahead and prepare your side dishes. And, when the ham is set to bake in the oven, it requires very little attention, so you can finish up those sides, or maybe get yourself all gussied up before your guests arrive!

Let’s talk about the ham in more detail first so that I can help you ensure a successful recipe. Once that is done, I’ll provide you with some of my favourite sides that you can serve too. Oh, and don’t forget that with ham this size, you’re guaranteed leftovers, so I’ll also give you an idea or two of what to do with all of that delicious cold ham!

VIRGINIA HAM

A Virginia ham is a specialty ham, which is also more commonly known as a country ham. It is sometimes called Virginia ham because its origins can be traced back to the state of Virginia. This ham is dry-cured and slowly smoked to add aging and a deep, rich flavour. Since Virginia ham is boneless and already fully cooked when you buy it, there’s less cooking time and carving is super easy!

Virginia hams are prized for their sweetness. They are cured, then smoked over apple and hickory wood fires, and hung to age in the smokehouse. Perhaps the most widely known style of country ham is those of Smithfield, Virginia. They are processed from hogs which have a diet consisting of acorns, nuts, and corn.

These hams are cured in a dry mixture for a month, then spiced with black pepper, and cold smoked for a further two weeks. Once smoked, the ham is aged and mellowed for a minimum of one year. It is worth noting that if you source your ham from a butcher, in most cases, the butcher will have washed the ham and would have removed any mold. (Mold is very common when aging, so don’t be alarmed!) If you have sourced a ham with mold, you will need to wash the ham well and trim the mold away.

OTTAWA VALLEY MEATS

For this particular recipe, I am using twelve-pound Virginia Ham from Ottawa Valley Meats. Like all of their products, their ham is completely antibiotic and hormone-free and provided a diet consisting of vegetable feed with no soy products. Their delicious and juicy hams are handcrafted in Ontario and are smoked in-house. Who wouldn’t want one of these hams for Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas dinner?

If you are in Ontario, be sure to look into Ottawa Valley Meats to see if they deliver to your area. They offer seafood, poultry, and pork too. And, they deliver right to your door! I have had other suppliers deliver meat and seafood, but Ottawa Valley Meats were the best! It comes in a freezer-refrigerated truck, which means the box doesn’t need to be stuffed with ice packs or dry ice. And, the food doesn’t need to be packaged into those silver cooler bags. Do you know what that means for me? Less waste!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this Sweet and Savoury Osso Buco recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Virginia Ham – Sometimes knowns as a country ham, for this recipe, you will need a 10-14 pound boneless smoked ham.
• Green Onions – Whenever I boil meat of any kind, I like to include a bunch of green onions. It not only helps to flavour, but also eliminates that boiled meat smell. It is completely optional.
• Brown Sugar – It might seem like a lot, but not only are you making a glaze, you’re also making a serving sauce.
• Maple Syrup – More sweetness, but that maple flavour is perfect! You can use honey instead of maple syrup, but Canadian maple syrup will beat out honey any day!
• Grainy Mustard – This adds warmth and texture.
• Honey Mustard – I find that this rounds out the spiciness of the grainy mustard and adds a nice colour to the sauce as well.
• Apple Cider Vinegar – This adds so much flavour to the sauce. Also, the acidity balances out the sweetness.
• Ground Black Pepper – No salt is needed. Ham is already salty enough.

MUSTARD, MUSTARD, AND… MUSTARD?

How do you feel about mustard? Most of us have a squeeze bottle of yellow mustard somewhere in our fridge. It’s most likely French’s or Heinz too, isn’t it? But, what about other types of mustard? I don’t love classic yellow mustard, but I don’t hate it either. It’s a must on hotdogs, and I always put a bit in my Mom’s Classic Macaroni Salad and my Mustard Potato Salad. But, other than that, I much prefer honey mustard.

If I’m making a sandwich, I always reach for honey mustard, while John.e goes for yellow mustard. And, McKenna doesn’t use mustard at all. We’re always divided, I tell you! Honey mustard is a great way to add a little bit of warm flavour, and a little bit of sweetness at the same time. My Deviled Chicken is a great example of using honey mustard in a savoury recipe.

I’m also a big fan of grainy mustard, but only in small quantities. It has such a wonderful flavour and I love the texture of the mustard seeds. However, if you’re not careful, it can completely overpower a dish. I use it sparingly, just like I did in this Creamy Crab Salad and this Avocado Spread. For this Brown Sugar Mustard Glazed Virginia Ham, I’m using both honey mustard and grainy mustard, making for an incredible burst of flavour!

HOW TO MAKE BROWN SUGAR MUSTARD GLAZED VIRGINIA HAM

This recipe comes together quite easily, but it does require three cooking techniques. I don’t want that to scare you, because all of them are quite easy to do and I will walk you through it step by step. The three techniques are boiling, baking, and basting. So, let’s break it down into sections so that it is less daunting.

Step 1: Boiling the Ham

If your ham has any mold on it, you will need to wash the ham well and trim away the mold. Almost 100% of the time, a Virginia ham will be purchased from a grocery store or butcher, so there will be no need to worry about doing that. The mold which forms during the ageing process would have been already removed. In the case that it is not, you can read how to do it here. If your ham has a string (a net) on it, leave it on at this point.

Lower the entire ham into a large stock pot. Add enough cold water to cover the ham by at least one inch. If you are including the optional green onion, do it now. Wash the green onion under cold running water. Cut off the root end and tie the whole bunch into a knot. Alternatively, you can chop it into two-inch pieces. Toss it in the pot. Over medium-high heat, bring the ham to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium and boil for one hour.

Place a large colander in your sink and carefully transfer the pot with the ham. Drain the water out of the pot and allow the ham to fall gently into the colander. Allow the ham to cool for five minutes so that it is easy to handle. Collect the green onions and discard them. While the ham cools, prepare the glaze.

Step 2: Preparing the Glaze

I love this glaze, because not only does it flavour the ham and make the outside all sticky and sweet, it also acts as a sauce when you’re ready to serve. I say sauce, but some might call it gravy. Either way, it’s delicious and you not only love it on your sliced ham but also drizzled over your mashed potatoes!

This glaze is super easy! Add the brown sugar, maple syrup (or honey), grainy mustard, honey mustard, apple cider vinegar, and ground black pepper to a saucepan. Over medium-high heat, whisk the sauce ingredients together until they come to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to boil for five minutes, stirring continuously.

Finally, reduce the heat to simmer and keep the glaze warm. Through the roasting time, you will use this glaze to baste the entire surface of the ham every fifteen minutes. The remaining glaze can be poured into a little pitcher and served with your meal.

Step 3: Preparing the Boiled Ham

Once the ham has cooled, transfer it to a shallow roasting pan. If you do not have a shallow roasting pan like this, you will want to place the ham first onto a cutting board. It will make it easier to score. You might need to use oven mitts to pick up the warm ham. Using a paring knife, you will want to score the entire surface of the ham in a diamond pattern.

Scoring is the process of lightly cutting into a food item. In the case of ham, it is a really important step to getting a juicy, flavourful result. You see, Dear Reader, a ham can have a thick layer of fat that insulates the meat. During cooking, the fat will render down. Scoring the meat will flavour the interior because it will allow that brown sugar mustard glaze to get inside. Plus, a scored ham is just gorgeous when plated – isn’t it!?

So, with a very sharp knife, starting from one end close to the bottom, cut about 1/3 of an inch into the ham in a straight line. Cut more lines about an inch apart until you have lines in one direction across the entire surface of the ham. (You don’t need to score the bottom!) Turn the ham on a forty-five-degree angle, and repeat the cutting action. This will create a crisscross diamond pattern.

Step 4: Baking your Ham

Once your ham has been scored, it’s time to bake it! Turn your oven on to 325 degrees F. It is a lower heat than what is normally used to roast meat, but remember, a Virginia ham is already cooked. Plus, it has been boiled for an hour, so it is warmed thoroughly. The purpose of baking is to add flavour to the glaze and to brown the surface without burning it.

Once the oven is ready, place the ham in and set a timer for fifteen minutes. The ham will bake for one hour, but you will need to baste it with the glaze every fifteen minutes. That means you will baste this ham three times. If you notice that the ham is browning too quickly, tent it loosely with aluminum foil.

After one hour, remove the ham from the oven, and allow it to rest for five minutes. Once rested, transfer the ham to a large cutting board and slice off only as much as you think you will need for your dinner. The slices can be as thick or as thin as you wish. Do not slice the ham entirely unless you are eating it all right away. Leaving the leftover ham whole will help to keep it moist. Now, it’s time to plate and enjoy!

WHAT TO SERVE WITH BROWN SUGAR MUSTARD GLAZED VIRGINIA HAM

This ham is warm and savoury, so when it comes to serving a side dish or two, you will want to keep that in mind. Sides should always complement the main and not fight or contradict it. What that means is that you should not serve a side dish with a lot of complex flavours if your main is already extra flavourful as it is. So, in this case, I served the following sides.

I had to have mashed potatoes and my go-to mashed potato recipe is this one. It has lots of fresh herbs and salted butter – it’s so yummy! Next, I have to serve a brightly coloured side dish. John.e will always complain if a meal is “too brown.” So, how about corn? The recipe you see in the photos is not on my blog, but I do have this beautiful Skillet Confetti Corn, or this absolutely addicting Stovetop Cream Cheese Corn.

Finally, even though I spoke about how great the glaze was and how it could be used as a sauce and/or gravy, McKenna would not let me live it down if I did not serve real gravy. So, here’s my homemade gravy recipe. It is made without pan drippings, so it’s super easy!

LEFTOVER HAM OPTIONS

Okay, so you have leftover ham. I’m going to tell you how to make the most amazing ham and cheese sandwich. Oh, this won’t be your ordinary white bread variety with just mayo – nope, this is a grown-up version. So, start with two slices of really good bread, like sourdough or rye. Slather one slice with mayo. Top it with your favourite cheese and a slice or two of leftover ham.

On the second slice of bread, smear on a bit of honey mustard and top that with a layer of mashed potatoes (if you have any left!) Top the mashed potatoes with more cheese and place that slice on top of the first slice. Press down gently to seal the two together. Grill on a buttered panini press or in a cast iron skillet until the cheese is melted.

Please be warned that this is a big sandwich, so flipping can be a bit of a challenge. I like to slide a flipper under the sandwich and place another flipper or spatula on top. It will help to keep the sandwich slightly pressed together as you gently flip it over.

Alternatively, you can use your oven. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. The sandwich should go into a cold oven. Close the door and set the heat to 400 degrees F. Once the oven reaches the right temperature, set a timer for 3 minutes. Remove the sandwich from the oven and turn if over. Bake for 3-4 more minutes or until browned to your liking.

Plate, slice, and enjoy! It couldn’t be more simple. Now, if you’re much like me, a ham and cheese sandwich is nothing without a side of really crispy, kettle-cooked chips!