Orange Glazed Ham

Honey-glazed ham can get a little too sticky-sweet once you’re not used to a lot of sugar all at once, so here’s a more savory variation to fill your table for Sunday dinner. It’s not overwhelmingly sugary, especially since baking the ham with sage first gives it an underlying woodsy fragrance, and the cloves give you just a touch of spice to balance the flavor.

In fact, there’s barely any “sweetener” at all in the whole dish. Most of the sweetness comes from oranges; you can add a little honey if you like, or just leave the slightly tarter citrus flavor to shine through. Or if you’d rather, you can use tangerines in place of oranges; the flavor will be slightly sweeter without needing to use any additional honey.

The only caveat with this recipe is that it’s not quick, since the ham takes a few hours to cook. You don’t have to be hovering over the stove the whole time, but you’ll want to be around to baste it periodically. It’s probably better as a weekend project than an everyday dinner – but once you’re done, it’s a recipe that keeps on giving in the form of delicious leftovers. Try some in a recipe like breakfast burritos or fall vegetable salad or just roll up a couple slices as a snack; even if you’re not a big fan of regular ham, you just might decide you like it this way.

Orange Glazed Ham Recipe

SERVES: 10 PREP: 15 min. COOK: 4 hrs.

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Ingredients

• 8 to 10 lbs. ham, bone-in, skin on;
• 8 to 10 fresh sage leaves, minced;
• ¼ cup melted coconut oil;
• 1 lb. carrots, peeled and chopped;
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper;

Ingredients for the orange glaze

• 2 oranges, seeded and sliced thinly;
• 2 cups orange juice;
• ½ cup honey; (optional)
• 1 cup water;
• ¼ tsp. ground cloves;
• 2 cinnamon sticks;
• 1 cup of hard ghee, cut into chunks;

Preparation

1. Preheat your oven to 300 F.
2. Place the ham in a roasting pan, fatty side up.
3. Score the skin of the ham with a sharp knife in a diamond pattern.
4. Season the meat with sea salt and black pepper to taste.
5. In a small bowl, combine the coconut oil and the minced sage.
6. Rub the sage mixture all over the ham, making sure to get the mixture into all the slits.
7. Place the ham in the oven and bake for 2 hours.
8. Heat a saucepan over a medium heat.
9. Add all the ingredients for the orange glaze, season to taste, and cook for 30 to 40 minutes or until the liquid turns syrupy.
10. Pour the glaze (including the fruit chunks) all over the ham and bake for another hour, basting the ham with the juices every 30 minutes.
11. Scatter the carrots around the ham and coat them with the juice. Then cook the ham for another hour (for a 4-hour total cooking time), basting again every 30 minutes.