Apple Bourbon Baked Ham

Ingredients:

7 to 8 pounds fully cooked bone in smoked ham
1/2 cup bourbon
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup apple cider
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon ground pepper

Instructions:

Place unwrapped ham on rack in large roasting pan. Let stand at room temperature about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Skin ham; trim fat to 1/4-inch. Score fat in diamond pattern. Cover top of ham with foil. Pour 1/4 cup of the bourbon and all the water into roasting pan. Bake 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in small saucepan, combine remaining bourbon, the sugar, and 1/2 cup of the apple cider. Cook, stirring over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Stir in mustard and pepper. After ham has baked 30 minutes, remove foil and baste with 1/4 of the glaze (add water to pan if needed).

Bake 1 1/2 hours longer, basting 3 times with remaining glaze, or until internal temperature registers 140 degrees F. on meat thermometer. Transfer ham to platter; tent with foil. Let stand 15 minutes. Pour drippings from pan into glass measure; skim and discard fat. Place same roasting pan across 2 stove top burners over med-high heat. Add remaining apple cider, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan. Add reserved drippings and any juices from ham on platter. Simmer 5 minutes. Serve pan juices with ham.

Yield: 8 servings