EAT

Hamming it up for Christmas

Yes - it is time to drag out the family cookbooks and start preparing for the descending hoards of family and friends. The tree and lights are up, some of the shopping is done but what to do about Christmas dinner? I'm not one for changing up traditions and tend to cringe when someone says "we're doing something different this yearhellip;" imagining a Christmas tuna casserole or red and green dyed lasagna. Not - I'm a traditionalist when it comes to holiday meals and for Christmas I vote ham!

Maybe it has been overdone a bit but I still believe ham is a great centerpiece for the holiday table for several reasons:

One - a large ham can take on an extended family with all the stragglers and still have enough left over for sandwiches the next day. After all - who wants to cook the day after Christmas?

Two - you can create a series of sauces that showcase the flavors and textures of the meat. This is easy and fun and beats making two or three separate main dishes. You can do both sweet and savory to satisfy everyone's preference with­out having to make multiple main dishes.

Three - a holiday-dressed ham looks great in the center of the table!

For me, one of the great sights of Christmas is a clove- studded ham, glistening with a pineapple and orange glaze with the aromas of my mom's sweet mustard sauce. This is what we did every year and it is a delicious though time- intensive recipe. It also brings back memories of Christmas past so the sentimental value of a dish like this is invaluable.

One trick that I've learned over the years to keep a ham moist is to cook it slowly at lower temperatures for a longer period of time with a loose tent of foil over the top AND you need some liquid in the pan. It depends on whether you are going for a sweet or savory ham so I use a bottle of sweet gewürztraminer wine for a sweeter ham or, if going for a savory style, I use a couple of cans of Guinness stout. The steam from the liquid will help to keep the meat moist, adds flavor and serves as the base for a rich pan sauce as well.

There are so many easy ways that you can gussy up ham. Bourbon, brown sugar and coarse brown mustard make a wonderful dip. So does apricot jam with apple cider and car­damom. A hot, spicy mustard and white wine/honey sauce is another favorite. Rings of pineapple, while a bit overdone in the Betty Crocker holiday pictures, is still a beautiful way to present this grand dish to the table and they taste great with the meat.

I recommend buying a fresh ham and brining it yourself but with everything going on during the holidays, from deco­rating to parties to shopping and the general busyness that comes with the holidays the extra time it takes to slow brine your ham is sometimes a bit much but it is worth the effort. For a ham brine I use 3 quarts orange juice, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup salt and a half bottle of bourbon with some ground cloves and juniper berries. It takes about 12 hours to brine a ham and another 6 to air dry it before cooking so plan ahead.

The perfect accompaniment for a holiday ham is mulled red wine. Mulling spices are available as pre-blended packs at many kitchen stores and supermarkets this time of year, and the aromas drifting through your home are incredible.

Happy holidays everyonehellip; ham it up a little and leave the lasagna and tuna casseroles for the rest of the year. Sante!