A couple of weekends ago, we settled down to watch The Pirates! Band of Misfits and had a roaring good time. If you have kids -- and even if you don't -- I highly recommend watching it. Of course, I didn't quite expect it to inspire a menu for the following week, but that's exactly what happened:
Of course, we needed to have our own Ham Night! And not just any ham would do. I wanted a glaze that would leave our dinner crusted with a caramel-like layer that would be bursting with flavor. And it needed to include rum. After all, this is a pirate-inspired ham! So I grabbed a few choice ingredients and slathered them onto a generous ham shank that had been scored lightly. A few hours of light baking in the oven -- with one extra application of the glaze -- produced a beautiful ham that any pirate would be proud to call dinner. What's more, it really only takes a few minutes of your time to get it prepared and, while it takes a while to bake, you can use that time to get projects done around the house, make some great sides to have alongside your ham, or just sit back and relax.
![](/sites/default/files/ham.jpg)
You could certainly use a different preserve in place of the apple butter, but I was very pleased with the fruity element that it brought to the glaze. I might try orange marmalade in its place, at some point. Hams have been relatively well-priced in my neck of the woods this winter, so we may just have an encore of Ham Night soon! It really is the best part of being a pirate. Piracy not required!
Apple Butter Glazed Ham
- 1 8-9 lb. ham shank, fully cooked
- 1/2 cup apple butter
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3 T. grainy mustard
- 3 T. dark rum
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly score the ham in a criss cross pattern and set cut side down in a baking dish. Make sure there is about 2 inches of liquid on the bottom of the dish and around the bottom of the ham.
In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Using a brush, generously coat the ham with the glaze. Reserve 1/3 cup of the glaze.
Bake the ham for 3-4 hours or until warmed through and the glaze is bubbly and caramelized, basting with the remaining glaze about halfway through the baking time. Slice and serve.
- Yields: 10-12 servings
- Preparation Time: About 4 hours