Brandied Glazed Ham

A Christmas Cooking Special

Everyone looks forward to the Christmas season and especially the wonderful foods, feasting to our hearts content. This Brandied Glazed Ham recipe has always been a favourite in our family. It not only looks good but tastes as good as it looks. This recipe was given to me by my sister-in-law Maxine, who always makes it for christmas. It is a huge success and gets a lot of excellent comments from the entire family when she serves it up. You can always substitute the brandy for pineapple juice if you don't like to use alcohol. I prefer it with the brandy in it.

PREPARATION:

1 cooked leg ham
Whole cloves
Glace cherries
BRANDIED APRICOT GLAZE

1 cup apricot jam

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown vinegar

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 cup brandy

Carefully remove skin from the ham, with a sharp knife mark surface fat into approximately 2.5cm (1 inch) diamonds as shown in picture (white lines drawn for clarity). Take care not to cut through the fat; just mark it, otherwise fat will shrink during the glazing process.

Place ham in a large baking dish, brush well with prepared glaze.

Bake in moderate oven 45 Min's or until golden brown. Brush ham with glaze every 10 minutes. Remove from oven, cool slightly. Decorate ham with half glace cherries and cloves; the glaze will hold the cherries in position.

BRANDIED APRICOT GLAZE

Sieve warmed apricot jam, combine with remaining ingredients, mix well. Note: Glaze ham on the day required.

You can substitute the brandy with pineapple juice if you prefer a non alcoholic glaze.