A whole Ham Georgia is an impressive main dish for a large party and is ideal for just about any buffet. Store-bought cooked hams improve greatly when recooked in water. After recooking, the ham should be allowed to cool in the water before serving as is, warm or cold, or baking, as it is here, with a Peach-Mustard Glaze.
1 fully cooked ham (about 16 to 17 pounds)
Peach-Mustard Glaze
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
3 cups demi-glace (reduced veal stock, available at specialty markets)
Peach Sauce
Place ham in a large stockpot filled with enough cold water to cover the ham. Bring the water to a low simmer — do not boil. Cook at a simmer 3 hours, then let the ham cool in the water.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove the ham from the water. Remove the skin and trim the surface of the meat where it is brown and skinlike around the shank bone. To make carving easier later on, remove the pelvis or hip bone by running a knife around it. When the skin has been removed, trim off all but a thin layer of white fat from the surface of the ham.
Run the point of your knife in a crisscross pattern through the remaining fat on the top of the ham, cutting slightly into the surface of the meat. This scoring will help the glaze adhere to the meat while it bakes.
Spread the Peach-Mustard Glaze over the top surface of the ham. Place the ham in a roasting pan and bake 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake 1 hour. Sprinkle confectioners’ sugar on top and cook another 30 minutes, until nicely glazed. Transfer the ham to a platter and set aside in a warm place.
Discard the accumulated fat in the roasting pan. Add 1 cup water to the drippings in the pan, stirring to loosen and mix in the solidified juices. Add demi-glace and bring to a boil. Reserve for use in the Peach Sauce.
Prepare to carve the ham. Make a vertical cut to about 1 inch above the shank bone. Slice ham on the bias, stopping at the cut edge, and arrange the meat on a warm platter. Serve three or four slices per person, with peach slices and sauce spooned around and over the meat.
1/2 cup peach preserves
2 tablespoons dried mustard
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
In a small bowl, mix together preserves, mustard, balsamic vinegar, and allspice.
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 pounds ripe local peaches (about 10), each peach cut into 8 wedges
1/3 cup sugar
4 ounces dried peaches, cut into 1/2-inch slices
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
4 cups reserved demi-glace mixture
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1 teaspoon potato starch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water (for thickening, if needed)
1 cup julienned basil leaves
In each of two large skillets, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. When the butter begins to foam, add half the peach wedges to each skillet and sauté 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with sugar, dividing it between the skillets, and cook 3 to 4 minutes longer. Add dried peaches and vinegar, half to each skillet, and stir to mix.
Combine the contents of both skillets in one saucepan. Strain reserved demi-glace mixture over the peaches and stir in salt. If the sauce is thinner than desired, add dissolved potato starch and boil 1 to 2 minutes. At serving time, stir in basil.