Baked Ham with Bourbon Glaze

One 12-14 pound smoked ham, precooked
1 tsp dry mustard
3/4 cup whole cloves
3/4 cup bourbon whiskey
2 x navel oranges, peeled and sectioned
2 cup dark brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place the ham, fat side up, on a rack set in a shallow roasting pan large enough to hold the ham comfortably. Bake in the middle of the oven, without basting, for two hours, or until the meat can be easily pierced with a fork.

For greater cooking certainty, insert a meat thermometer in the fleshiest part of the ham before baking it. It should register between 130-140 degrees when the ham is done.

When the ham is cool enough to handle comfortably, cut away the rind with a large, sharp knife. Then score the ham by cutting deeply through the fat until you reach the meat, making the incisions 1/2 inch apart lengthwise and crosswise. Return the ham to the rack in the pan and raise the oven heat to 450 degrees.

With a pastry brush, paint the ham on all sides with 1/2 cup of the whiskey. Then combine the sugar and mustard and 1/4 cup of the whiskey, and pat the mixture firmly into the scored fat. Stud the fat at the intersections or in the center of each diamond with a whole clove, and arrange the orange sections as decoratively as you can on the top of the ham with toothpicks or small skewers to secure them.

Baste lightly with the drippings on the bottom of the pan and bake the ham undisturbed in the hot oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the sugar has melted and formed a brilliant glaze.

Yield: 12-14 Servings