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How To Bake a Spiral Sliced Ham (Fig Glaze)

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A smoky, juicy ham with a sweet and salty fig glaze is a beautiful main course that is impressive but easy to prepare for a special occasion. The glaze not only adds a beautiful sheen to the ham, but adds a terrific flavor to it too.

Ingredients

Scale

1015 lb spiral sliced glazed ham (preferably shank end)

1 1/2 cups water

Fig Glaze:

1/2 Tablespoon butter or oil

1 shallot (you can also use 1/2 medium yellow or red onion), minced

24 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup fig preserves

1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

23 fresh thyme springs (or 1 rosemary sprig)

1/4 cup water

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Place the ham in a deep roasting pan on top of a rack. Pour in about 1 1/2 cups water into the bottom of the roasting pan. Cover the top of the ham and the roasting pan first with parchment paper and then with another layer of aluminum.
  3. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes – 1 1/2 hours, depending on the size of your ham. The internal temperature of the ham should reach 100-110 degrees Fahrenheit. The ham is already cooked and does not need to reach a higher temperature.
  4. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze for the ham.
  5. In a small-medium saucepan, heat the butter or oil. Add the shallot and garlic and cook for 3-5 minutes on medium low heat, seasoning with salt and ground black pepper to taste, until the shallots are tender.
  6. Add the fig preserves, the balsamic vinegar, thyme and water. Mix to combine and simmer for another 5 minutes. Discard the thyme sprigs. 
  7. Blend all of this in a blender or use an immersion blender to get a smooth consistency. If the glaze is too thick, thin it out with a bit more water.
  8. When the ham has reached an internal temperature of 100 – 110 degrees Fahrenheit, remove it from the oven, uncover it, and brush it evenly with the glaze.
  9. Increase the temperature of the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Return the glazed ham to the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes, until the glaze has caramelized a bit. (Do not overcook the ham or it will be too dry.)
  10. Remove from the oven, let it rest for 15 minutes before serving. Serve with the remaining Fig Glaze, if you want to.  

Notes

  • Instead of fig preserves, you can also so many other jams/jellies/preserves: use orange marmalade, apricot jam, plum preserves, apple jelly, black/red currant preserves, etc.
  • Most spiral sliced hams are not sliced at the very top. As the ham bakes, the cut portion of the man will separated from the uncut top portion of the ham, creating huge gaps.

    There’s nothing wrong with it, it will just look a little homely. To prevent this, use a sharp knife to create 3-5 more slices parallel to the other slices on the ham across the top. (If you forget this step and the ham starts to separate, just create a few slices and as soon as you notice it and it should fix the problem.)