Bless Her Heart

It’s hard to believe that this year is more than halfway over…seems like we just celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas.

But soon we’ll be doing it all again – trimming the tree, hanging the stockings with care, buying new clothes so that we can get annual family photos made and ordering our HoneyBaked Ham.

HoneyBaked Ham is a precious commodity around here…much like silver, gold and bacon…

But why can’t we have a delicious ham meal at other times of the year…without having to buy a huge ham worthy of a holiday dinner.

Thank goodness for ham steak…no, not that nasty ham stuff that your grandmother always bought that comes in a can…

The delicious ham steaks that are available from the meat case at most grocery stores…a sliced piece of ham that includes part of the center and outer edge of a whole ham for a delicious reminder that Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter vacation days do still exist…

Ham steaks are versatile enough to be served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner…and can be made by several different cooking methods – grilling, pan-frying, baking and more.

Ham steaks are a quick, easy and delicious entrée that usually call for just a few ingredients.

Now if only we could find an SEC college football game that wasn’t recorded 20-something years ago…

• 2Tbsp olive oil
• Two 12-16 oz boneless ham steaks
• 3Tbsp butter
• 1 small shallot, finely chopped
• ½tsp garlic powder
• ½tsp black pepper
• 1C chicken stock
• 1tsp cornstarch dissolved in 2tsp cold water
• Bourbon-Mustard: 1/3C bourbon, 1Tbsp. whole-grain mustard
• Orange: ½C orange marmalade. ½C orange juice. ¼C brown sugar. 2Tbsp apple cider vinegar. ½tsp onion powder. ¼tsp ginger. ¼tsp ground cloves
• Variations: You could make these ham steaks using a different flavor of marmalade or jelly – apple, apricot, peach or even pepper jelly

Brown ham steaks: Heat oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.

Add ham slices to the heated skillet. Your ham will still brown nicely if the ham slices overlap in the pan.

Brown ham slices for about two minutes per side, Remove from skillet onto a small-rimmed baking sheet. Cover with foil to keep warm. Wipe skillet clean. Blot the ham steaks dry with a paper towel.

Make sauce: Melt butter over medium-high heat in that same skillet.

Stir glaze ingredients to combine.

For the bourbon-mustard glaze, you would stir together those ingredients – shallot, garlic, pepper and bourbon.

For the orange glaze, you would stir together these ingredients – orange marmalade, orange juice, light brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, garlic, onion powder, ginger and cloves.

Simmer: Bring to a simmer over medium-high.

Simmer for about five minutes or until the mixture thickens to a syrup-like  consistency. stirring occasionally,

Increase the temperature to medium-high.

Combine 1tsp cornstarch with 2tsp water. Whisk this into the skillet to thicken the sauce.Keep adding more of this slurry until the sauce is as thick as you’d like.

Lower the heat to medium. Add the ham steaks back to the skillet, Flip to coat with the glaze. Cook until heated through.

Serve: Divide warm ham between plates. Spoon glaze over the top of each.

To store: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container or wrapped with aluminum foil for up to three days. Store the glaze separately from ham. Reheat ham gently in the microwave, in a nonstick skillet over medium heat or in a preheated 350°F oven.

To freeze: Freeze in plastic bags or a freezer-safe container for up to three months. Thaw in the refrigerator.

You could also cube any leftover ham and use it later when making salads, casseroles, omelettes or soup.