Best Crack Ham Recipes

CRACK HAM

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400°. Rinse the ham and slice off the tough outer skin, taking care not to remove too much of the fat along with it. Score the ham, cutting long crisscrossing lines at least ¼ inch deep and 1 inch apart all over. Place the ham in a heavy nonreactive (glass or stainless steel) roasting pan or baking dish and slowly pour ½ cup bourbon over the meat, letting it sink in as much as possible. Place the ham, uncovered, in the oven.
• In a saucepan, boil the orange juice until reduced by half. Remove from the heat and stir in the brown sugar, mustard, molasses and the remaining 1½ cups of bourbon.
• After the ham has baked for about 45 minutes, remove it from the oven and cover with the glaze, making sure you get into all the crevices that have now opened up; pour the remaining glaze into the pan. Return the ham to the oven and bake for at least 1½ hours longer, brushing it with glaze very 30 minutes or so (if the top of the ham begins to burn, cover it with aluminum foil). When the glaze is well-browned, remove the ham from the oven, place it on a serving platter and cover loosely with foil.
• Taste the juices from the roasting pan and season with salt if needed. Pour some of the sauce over the ham and place the rest in a serving bowl. Serve immediately, carving the ham at the table.

BAKED HAM AND CHEESE PARTY SANDWICHES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• In a bowl, mix together butter, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, poppy seeds, and dried onion. Separate the tops from bottoms of the rolls, and place the bottom pieces into the prepared baking dish. Layer about half the ham onto the rolls. Arrange the Swiss cheese over the ham, and top with remaining ham slices in a layer. Place the tops of the rolls onto the sandwiches. Pour the mustard mixture evenly over the rolls.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the rolls are lightly browned and the cheese has melted, about 20 minutes. Slice into individual rolls through the ham and cheese layers to serve.

HAM & CRACKLING

Steps:

• Sit the gammon in a large pot with the onion, bay leaves and vinegar. Pour over enough water to completely cover the gammon. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 45 mins. Remove the gammon from the pot and allow to cool.
• Once cool enough to handle, carefully cut away the skin, leaving a layer of fat attached. Pat the skin dry with a clean tea towel, then transfer to a wire rack and leave to dry out completely.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line one small roasting tin with foil and two small baking trays with baking parchment. Put the gammon in the foil-lined tin, fat-side up, and rub all over with the mustard, then the sugar. Put the skin onto one of the baking trays, then place the other piece of parchment on top, followed by the second baking tray. Find a weight to go on top (a heavy pan works well) then put both the gammon and skin in the oven. Roast for 30 mins, basting twice, until the gammon is golden.
• Take the ham out the oven and turn it up to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Continue cooking the crackling for 10 mins until it is deep golden and crisp. To serve, carve into slices and break the crackling into shards to serve alongside.