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When talk of turkey gets tedious, let’s switch to ham, the other special meat. When there’s a ham in the oven, you know a feast is about to happen.
I wanted to give you a locally inspired recipe that will take us through this upcoming holiday season, and my first thought was what entranced me as a child — rings of pineapple and cloves studding the outside of a fragrant ham, baking away the afternoon.
I don’t always have that kind of time, though. So I make a fast, hurry-curry pineapple sauce spiced with cloves, cinnamon, allspice and curry, thickened quickly on the stove. Once the ham is sliced and heated, dinner is ready!
Check out the recipe, which should take you clear through your Christmas ham and onto your Easter ham.
Recipe: Quick Curried Pineapple Sauce for Ham
Summary: A hurry-curry stovetop sauce, fragrant with spices, will make your ham sing! Perfect for any holiday ham dinner, or even on roasted poultry.
Ingredients
- 1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice
- 1/4 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon allspice
- 1/16 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- A few grinds of black pepper
- 1 tablespoon corn starch, dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a saucepan and stir to combine. Heat on medium, stirring occasionally, until it boils and thickens. Boil 1 minute and remove from heat.
- Spoon warm sauce over and alongside ham slices. This sauce tastes even better if you make it a day ahead and keep it refrigerated. Remove and rewarm or serve at room temperature if you like.
- Serves 4-6.
Measurements
How do you measure 1/8 or 1/16 of a teaspoon if you don’t have a specific measuring spoon in that size? Use your smallest measuring spoon in the set — usually 1/4 teaspoon. A 1/8 teaspoon measure is half of that, and a 1/16 teaspoon measure is one-quarter of the 1/4 teaspoon. Easy.
Variations
Like many Shockingly Delicious recipes, this one is adaptable. If you don’t like curry, leave that ingredient out and you’ll end up with a sauce that can go on ham OR ice cream! If you want to zip it up even more, add a clove of crushed garlic and/or a few shakes of crushed red pepper.
What to do with a half ham
Next time you buy (or win!) a big half ham, “decant” it into smaller-size portions just right for your needs. For my family of four, an 11-pound half ham yielded 6 zipper-top freezer bags of ham slices, portioned for one dinner each, and a bag containing 2 cups of ham chunks that will likely go into a soup. That’s plenty of dinners at the ready.
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Diet type: Vegetarian
Number of servings (yield): 4-6
My rating
Welcome to my kitchen!
At ShockD, you’ll find scrumptious, tried & true, "scary good" recipes, tips and coaching to make YOU a fabulous home cook! Don't blame me if you need a 12-step program to wean yourself away!
E-mail me: Dorothy.Reinhold@gmail.com
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