ROOT BEER GLAZED HAM

Prep Time:3 Hours
Yields: 6 Servings

Comment:
This is a wonderful recipe to create your own special holiday ham. It is quite simple to accomplish, but you will receive rave reviews with this dish. Try adding a few of your own secret spices.

Ingredients for Boiling Ham:
1 (5–10 pound) smoked ham
6 bottles high-quality root beer
1 red apple, sliced
1 green apple, sliced
1 cup red seedless grapes
½ orange, sliced
½ tsp cloves
cracked black pepper to taste
1 tsp filé (ground sassafras)

Method for Boiling Ham:
Place ham in a cast iron pot or Dutch oven. Surround ham with apples, grapes, orange and cloves. Pour in root beer and dust with pepper and filé. Bring to a rolling boil and reduce to simmer. Boil approximately 1 hour. Turn ham and continue boiling until root beer is reduced to a thick syrup. Remove and set aside. Continue to reduce syrup until it is consistency of molasses, being careful not to scorch. Remove syrup and place in a mixing bowl. Allow to cool and reserve for later.

Ingredients for Root Beer-Mustard Sauce:
½ cup root beer syrup (reserved)
1 cup Creole mustard
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup pineapple juice
¼ cup cracked black pepper
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of allspice
6 cloves
6 pineapple slices

Method for Root Beer-Mustard Sauce:
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except cloves and pineapple and whisk well. Place ham in center of a Dutch oven and coat completely with root beer mixture. Bake uncovered 1 hour. NOTE: If you wish to decorate ham, cut slits ⅛-inch deep diagonally across ham. Continue in same pattern from opposite side until even diamonds appear from cuts. Stud with cloves. Using toothpicks, secure pineapple to top of ham before baking.