Our supermarket decided to give away half shank smoked hams to their regular customers.  So, I figured I'd give this a try on the K.  The meat was bone in, weighed about 10 lbs, and was a "water added" product (already smoked and cooked, with up to 23% water added).  I'd never cooked one of these before, though there was a good discussion of these hams in a recent issue of Cook's Illustrated.

I found a recipe on the net, that was based on one from a Woman's Day article from a few years ago.  I've made a couple of tweaks to it, substituting good maple syrup for the pancake syrup that was originally in the recipe. 

Coffee Glazed Ham

• 7 - 10  lb fully cooked smoked ham

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup grade B maple syrup
• 2 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp instant coffee granules
• 1 tbsp dry mustard

I scored the surface of the meat lightly into a diamond pattern.  I put my sliding drip pan under the grill of the Kamado, placed the ham  a V rack, and set it on the grill.   The meat was unseasoned, the glaze adds flavor late in the cooking.

The recipe on the packaging called for 15 minutes per lb. at 350 degrees, but I decided that since I had the time, I'd do it at 300 degrees and add some cherry wood for smoke.  I wanted to take it off when the internal temperature read 140 degrees.

About 40 minutes before it was ready to come off, I prepared a glaze, and brushed it on every 15 minutes or so.

While this was cooking, we prepared a wonderful soup... (from Food TV)

Butternut squash bisque.

• 2 lbs. butternut squash cubed
• 8 oz. unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Boil the squash until tender, then drain.

Blend the cooked squash with the rest of the ingredients, and heat through (I used an immersion blender in the pot).

The soup is aromatic... it's like sipping pumpkin pie!

Lauren also prepared a salad of baby spinach leaves with pineapple and pecan pralines.

The ham was very very good, surprisingly so.

The coffee based glaze was delicious, it added wonderful color. The meat itself was very juicy and tender. This was a winner, and the meat at retail goes for between 79 and 99 cents per pound in our local supermarkets.

I was skeptical of this "water added" product, but it turned out nicely, with some lovely comments from guests who dropped by over the few days that leftovers existed.

Quite a lovely meal... if not a bit high on the cholesterol side.  Every once in a while, it's worth it.

It will be interesting to see how cooking a fresh (unsmoked, raw) ham turns out... that will be our New Years Day adventure.