Brown Sugar Mustard Glazed Ham

Christmas Eve service. I sang "O Holy Night." I stood at the pulpit in my choir robe, the same robe I've worn for fifteen Christmases, and I looked at the third pew and it was not empty — Curtis was there, and Marcus and Jasmine were there, and Vanessa was there — but Mama was not there, and the nod was not there, and I sang the first verse to the space where she should have been and my voice cracked on "the world in sin and error pining" and I paused and I breathed and I thought of her saying "Don't stop" and I didn't stop. I sang the whole song. I hit the high note. I imagined her nod. And the congregation stood and the church was full of candlelight and I walked back to the choir and I was shaking and Sister Gloria put her arm around me and said, "She heard every note."

Christmas at Cascade Heights. Smaller this year — Curtis, me, the kids, Darnell and family, Andre. Miss Ernestine couldn't come (she had a cold, and at ninety-two a cold is a serious negotiation with mortality). I cooked the full menu: ham (with pineapple and cloves), turkey (brined, roasted, right), dressing, greens, mac and cheese (extra cheese; Jasmine has won this battle permanently), yams, rolls, pies. Every dish. My hands know them now. My hands don't need the notebook. My hands are Mama's hands, translated into my body, speaking her language in my voice.

We set Mama's place again. Empty plate. Empty glass. Andre raised his glass and said, "To Mama. Merry Christmas." And we said it back. And we ate. And it was good. Not the same — it will never be the same — but good. A different good. My good. The dressing was mine. The rolls were mine (perfect again — twice now, which means it wasn't a fluke). The cobbler was mine with the nutmeg Mama wrote in my notebook margin. Every dish started as hers and ended as mine and the distance between those two things is called a year of grief and I traveled it and I'm here and the food was good and Christmas happened and we survived and we more than survived — we lived. We ate and argued and laughed and missed her and lived.

The ham is where I start, because the ham is the anchor — it goes in first, it perfumes the whole house, and by the time everyone arrives, they already know Christmas is happening. Mama always did hers with pineapple and cloves, and I did mine the same way this year, but I added a brown sugar and mustard glaze that came from my own instinct, my own taste, my hands making a decision without asking permission. That’s what this recipe is: hers as the foundation, mine as the finish. If you’re cooking for people you love and you need something that will hold the room together, start here.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 3 hours 30 minutes | Total Time: 3 hours 50 minutes | Servings: 14–16

Ingredients

1 bone-in fully cooked ham (8–10 lbs), skin-on
1 can (20 oz) pineapple rings in juice, juice reserved
30–40 whole cloves
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Maraschino cherries, for garnish (optional)
Toothpicks or small skewers, for securing pineapple

Instructions

Prepare the ham. Remove the ham from the refrigerator 45 minutes before cooking so it comes closer to room temperature. Preheat your oven to 325°F. Place the ham flat-side down in a large roasting pan. Using a sharp knife, score the surface of the ham in a diamond pattern, cutting about 1/4 inch deep and spacing the cuts roughly 1 inch apart.
Stud with cloves. Press one whole clove firmly into the center of each diamond intersection across the entire scored surface of the ham. This is the step that fills the kitchen — don’t rush it.
Secure the pineapple. Arrange the pineapple rings across the top and sides of the ham, securing each ring with toothpicks or small skewers. Tuck a maraschino cherry into the center of each ring if using. Pour the reserved pineapple juice into the bottom of the roasting pan.
Make the glaze. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the brown sugar, Dijon mustard, whole-grain mustard, melted butter, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, allspice, and black pepper. Stir constantly until the sugar dissolves and the glaze is smooth and slightly thickened, about 3–4 minutes. Remove from heat.
First glaze and cover. Brush about half the glaze generously all over the ham, including over the pineapple rings. Tent the roasting pan loosely with aluminum foil. Transfer to the oven and roast, allowing approximately 15 minutes per pound (roughly 2 hours to 2 hours 30 minutes for an 8–10 lb ham), until the internal temperature reaches 130°F.
Glaze and finish uncovered. Remove the foil and brush the remaining glaze over the ham. Raise the oven temperature to 400°F and continue roasting uncovered for 20–30 minutes, basting once more with pan drippings halfway through, until the glaze is deep, lacquered, and caramelized and the internal temperature reaches 140°F.
Rest and carve. Remove the ham from the oven and let it rest, loosely tented with foil, for at least 20 minutes before carving. Remove all toothpicks and cloves from the surface before serving. Slice and arrange on a platter with the pineapple rings alongside.

Nutrition (per serving)

Brown Sugar Mustard Glazed Ham — The Centerpiece I Made My Own