Warm yourself up with a simple recipe for the centerpiece of the holiday feast! And elevated with beautiful bourbon peppered pears, your Christmas ham will delight the entire family.
Glaze:
1 Cup water
½ Cup light brown sugar
1 Cup Pear or Apple Butter
1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
2 Tbsp. Bourbon
½ tsp. salt
Peppered Bourbon Pears :
6 firm small Pears, peeled and each cut in 6 wedges
¼ Cup melted butter
¼ Cup Brown Sugar
1/3 Cup Aged Bourbon
1/3 Cup Pear Juice
Pinch of Nutmeg
1 Tbsp. Coarse Black Pepper
¼ cup Toasted Hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
Fresh Mint Leaves to garnish, optional
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Place ham in a large baking pan, score the top layer of fat with a tip of a knife. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Prepare glaze.
Place all ingredients of glaze in a saucepan and simmer on low for 10 minutes or until slightly thick adding more water if needed. Uncover ham and baste the ham with glaze. Return to oven uncovered and continue baking until internal temperature reaches 145°F about ½ hour.*
Raise the temperature of oven to 375°F and bake ham until nice and golden-about 10-15 minutes.
Prepare the Bourbon Peppered Pears. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan with nonstick baking spray.Place pears in baking pan and brush with melted butter. Drizzle top of pears with bourbon followed by a sprinkle of brown sugar and coarse pepper.Add pear juice to barely cover the bottom. Bake in a hot 400°F oven until roasted but slightly firm.
Sprinkle toasted hazelnuts on top of pears, garnish with Fresh mint leaves and serve on the side with the glazed Ham.
*USDA recommends reheating fully cooked ham to a minmium internal temperature of 140°F
