We are having Easter Dinner at my house this year -- no religion involved -- just for a family get together dinner. I always do Thanksgiving so I am a pro at that dinner. Now, I need some help at this dinner.

Ham -- I bought a 16oz fully cooked boneless Country Ham from Early's Gifts and would like to know how to keep it moist when reheating. Can I inject? What do you recommend?

Glaze on the ham -- We have decided to go with a Pineapple glaze which is easy to make but when do I glaze the ham? We will use the same glaze on ham as a sauce.

Could I inject the ham with something spicy and then put the glaze which will give it a bit of spicy/sweet bite to it?

Sides -- what are some good sides?

Basically, that is all I need some help with.

Thanks

I find it easiest to let just let the ham come to slightly cool room temperature on the counter. If you want to melt a glaze on top, bring the oven to temp, pour the glaze on top, and put in the oven just long enough just to melt the glaze.

We sometimes do ham for Christmas and have German potato salad for a side. My sister's mother-in-law liked it so much that now I have to make it even when we are having turkey for dinner.

i like fresh green beans ... steamed then sauteed with a bit of olive oil and garlic, with a splash of balsamic thrown in at the end.

or Armenian Vegetable Salad ... also with green beans

with a good homemade mac and cheese, or scalloped potatos.

Our sides this year are:

- Roasted asparagus (coat the asparagus in olive oil, put some salt, pepper and freshly chopped garlic on top of the asparagus...400* oven for 20 minutes, you're good to go).

- Orange scented green beans

- Mashed potatoes (family must have)

- Dressing (family must have, plus we're having Turkey AND Ham for dinner)

...other than that, not quite sure what else is up my sleeve (I'm the cook). I'm sure I'll think of something between now and Sunday. LOL

Missydarlin hit it off.

Green beans (or even green peas with pearl onions), but homemade mac and cheese is a must with ham for my family.

If your family does not like mac, then I will suggest sweet potatoes.

For the ham - if you try to reheat it you'll only dry it out. Far better to leave it out long enough to get to room temperature. If you want to glaze it, do that in the oven just before serving as others have recommended.

For sides - green beans or asparagus would be great. I also like the peas with pearl onions suggestion. We like glazed carrots, but I think they would be too sweet with the glazed ham, as would sweet potatoes for that matter. I love mashed potatoes, but the ham isn't really going to give you any gravy. You can make a mustard gravy which works well with the ham. This is essentially powdered mustard mixed into a traditional corn starch gravy, to give a little more flavor use some of the cooking liquid from the potatoes/veggies (but NOT asparagus as that will give the gravy an off flavor). We also love sauted mushrooms, but not with ham as the flavors don't mix well, I think the mushrooms are too earthy for ham.

You didn't ask about wine, but that is also tough with ham. For white I like something spicy and with a bit of sweetness to it - Reisling works well. For reds I also like spice, and Zinfandel works for me.

Is this one of those salty dry-cured hams that need to be sliced really thin to be good?

You might get some ideas here also.

I love sweet potatos too.

I like to make a version of Sweet Potato Souffle.... except I don't put any sugar in the mash.... the sweetness of the crumble topping is more than enough for me.

In our family we always have had scalloped potatoes with Ham

Sweet potatoes goes great with ham.

Green beans (par boiled, then sauteed with some ginger, garlic, and hot pepper flakes)

Grilled fresh (not the canned stuff) pineapple

A simple salad.


I use to make a great marinade with a fresh pineapple (peeled, cored), a cup of dark rum, and 1/2 c brown sugar, run it all through the blender and cook the ham in it then boil it down for the glaze. That was for a full ham though, not a one pound one.

I would not bother heating up the ham, and don't try to inject it with anything, that won't work. The ham will be too dense and it won't move through. Just bring it to room temp, and if you want it hot, slice it and put it in a hot oven for a couple minutes, or use the hot sauce to get it heated.

I don't know why, but for Easter I like rabbit.

Thanks,
JBa

nope -- it is a slow cooked country ham. I do have some of the salt cured ham but is very good for soups !

Thanks to all for the replies -- especially about cooking the ham. I saved myself a huge debacle !!