BOURBON AND ORANGE GLAZED HAM

Ingredients

• 2 cups bourbon
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tbsp packed golden brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp grated orange peel
• 1/4 cup salted butter, chilled and cubed
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 4 lb (2 kg) ready-to-serve (fully cooked) boneless or bone-in ham
• Whole cloves*

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. To prepare glaze, combine bourbon, orange juice and nutmeg in a small non-reactive saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced by half, about 10 - 12 minutes.
3. Add brown sugar and orange peel; stir to combine.
4. Reduce heat to low and gradually add butter, whisking until butter is melted. Remove from heat and stir in pepper.
5. Reserve and refrigerate 1/4 cup of glaze to pour over ham after baking; remaining glaze will be used to baste ham.
6. Score ham in a criss-cross fashion to make diamonds. Poke a small hole in centre of each diamond. Insert a clove into each hole.
7. Place ham on a rack in a foil-lined shallow roasting pan. Brush ham with 3 tbsp of remaining glaze; set aside remaining glaze to baste ham.
8. Bake, uncovered, basting ham every 25 minutes with rest of remaining glaze, until a meat thermometer registers 140°F, about 2 hours; discard any remaining glaze.
9. Let stand for 15 minutes before carving.
10. Meanwhile, remove 1/4 cup reserved glaze from refrigerator and reheat it.
11. Pour reserved glaze over ham and carve.