Brown Sugar Bourbon-Glazed Ham

Preparing a glazed ham is a smart use of a busy cook's time, especially at the holidays. A large ham (and even a half-ham is plenty big) is no more trouble than a small picnic ham, and yields enough delicious servings to feed a crowd or stock the fridge with versatile leftovers.

This recipe begins with selecting a fully cooked ham, which might sound like a peculiar first step for an entrée that spends another 2 1/2 hours in the oven, but that time is for adding the deep flavor and gloss of a wonderful Southern-style glaze.

Go for a bone-in ham that's capped with a thin layer of flavorful fat that keeps the meat moist. Scoring the ham in the traditional cross-hatch pattern and studding it with whole cloves gives this entrée its classic good look, worthy of the center of the table or buffet.