Easy Fixes for Store-Bought Ham

Don’t worry about cooking your own ham this Easter. Buy a precooked ham and spruce it up with these tips for garnishes, glazes, and perfect sides.|Jennifer Beeler

Cooking your own Easter ham might seem like a bit of an endeavor. With family running around, brunches to attend, and all the Easter sides and desserts to make, fussing with baking a ham might be the last thing you want to do. Buying a store-bought ham is an easy shortcut. You can find them smoked, honey-baked, bone-in, boneless, and in a variety of sizes to meet your needs. Just add a few special touches to create an impressive Easter spread with very little effort.

Where To Buy Your Easter Ham
You can find precooked Easter hams at many specialty stores and larger stores such as The HoneyBaked Ham Company and Heavenly Ham. Many local country clubs offer Easter hams and sides that you can order, and some churches sell them as fund-raisers.

You can also order your Easter ham from small Southern producers that have specialized in curing ham for decades with time-honored methods and traditions. Here are some of our favorites:

• Benton's Smoky Mountain Country Hams: Based in Madisonville, Tennessee, Benton’s has been curing ham since 1947. They offer hickory-smoked, un-smoked, and aged country ham. To order, call 423/442-5003.
• S. Wallace Edwards & Sons: S. Wallace Edwards started as the captain of the Jamestown-Surry Ferry in Virginia selling ham sandwiches that had been cured by his family. As demand increased, he began curing ham on a full-time basis. Now you can buy an Edwards family ham online or by calling 800/222-4267.
• Johnston County Hams: Inspired by the techniques used by the early colonists, Johnston County Hams in Smithfield, North Carolina, has been curing country hams for more than 60 years. They also offer a sweet honey-cured ham. You can order online or call 800/543-4267.

Serving Your Easter Ham
Once you have your Easter ham, it’s all about the presentation. Make sure the platter you use is large enough to allow 3 to 4 inches around the ham. This provides room for garnishes like roasted vegetables and leafy greens, or apricots and bay leaves. If you want something more casual, serve a platter of sliced ham for sandwiches.

Glazes
A simple glaze can add a lot of flavor to your Easter ham. Try one of these recipes.

• Brown Sugar-Bourbon Glaze
• Cherries Jubilee-Black Pepper Glaze
• Honey-Bourbon Glaze
• Orange Glaze

Chutneys
Chutneys are an easy way to spruce up your ham. They’re also great on sandwiches as leftovers the next day. Give these chutneys a try this Easter.

• Fresh Peach Chutney
• Cranberry-and-Apricot Chutney

Mustards
You can’t go wrong with ham and mustard. Liven up your mustard by adding fig preserves to Creole mustard or by mixing Honeycup mustard, which has a horseradish flavor, with sour cream. Try these mustard recipes.

• Plum Mustard
• Sweet-and-Spicy Mustard Sauce
• Mustard Butter
• Mango Mustard

Pair Your Ham with the Perfect Sides
You don’t need to spend all day making sides for your Easter dinner. All you have to do is serve some premade potato salad from the grocery store, to which you can add fresh basil or lemon zest for extra flavor; bagged spinach with balsamic vinaigrette, spiced pecans, and strawberries; steamed asparagus; and a store-bought pound cake with whipped cream and raspberries. It’s quick, requires little effort, and is still delicious.

If you have a little more time to prepare your Easter dinner, try some of these sides:

• Classic Parmesan Scalloped Potatoes
• Apple-Pear Salad with Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing
• Roasted Fingerlings and Green Beans with Creamy Tarragon Dressing
• Asparagus Amandine
  

 

 

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