Saturday, July 17, 2010

Weekend Recipe: Fruity Ham

Welcome back to the return of the Weekend Recipe series! 

I'm so excited to share this recipe with you. 
It's nothing spectacular; in fact, I just sort of created it one day and haven't gone back to boring ham since! 
Oh, and it takes very little time to throw together!


Fruity Ham

1 Ham, any size or shape
1 Can pineapple slices
1 Jar any fruit preserves (I used apricot this time)

Put your ham in an oven-proof pan (or throw it in the ol' crock pot, if it will fit!)
Secure pineapple slices around the ham usingtoothpicks.
Brush the entire exposed surface with fruit preserves.

Now, if you're cooking it in your crock pot, just cover it and let it go!
(My crock pot was too small for this particular ham, so I put it in a regular old casserole dish to bake it in the oven.)
Cover with foil and throw this puppy in your oven.
Following the directions on the package my ham came in, it said to bake the ham at 250 degrees for 2-3 hours. Mine baked for about 2.25 and it was perfect.

See all those juices in the bottom of the dish?  They make a delicious gravy if you mix them into a roux of fat and flour (like any gravy).  I just melt a little bit of butter, add the juices, and then some flour and heat it until it thickens.

If you're somewhat new to cooking (like I swear I feel like every time I try to think of what to cook for dinner...), don't be afraid to try things out!  I discovered this delicious ham because I remembered seeing hams with pineapple rings on them, and decided the half-jar of apricot preserves in my fridge might be put to good use if I threw it in, too. Et voila!

Have you made any delicious discoveries in the kitchen?  I'd love to hear them!


2 comments:

Katie Olthoff said...

My mom used to make ham with pineapple all the time. Yum, yum!!

ham recipe said...

I also like making ham myself, not that there's anything wrong with the ones available at supermarkets, lol! I just enjoy it. That's why I also need hundreds of ham recipes to make sure my 3 pounds ham don't go to waste, lol!