Country Han Recipe

How to make it

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• Heat oven to 250 degrees F.
• Remove ham from bag, rinse and drain thoroughly.
• Place ham, cut side down, in a roasting pan.
• Using a small paring knife or clean utility knife set to the smallest blade setting, score the ham from bottom to top, spiraling clockwise as you cut. (If you're using a paring knife, be careful to only cut through the skin and first few layers of fat).
• Rotate the ham after each cut so that the scores are no more than 2-inches across.
• Once you've made it all the way around, move the knife to the other hand and repeat, spiraling counter clockwise.
• The aim is to create a diamond pattern all over the ham. (Don't worry too much about precision here.)
• Tent the ham with heavy duty foil, insert a thermometer, and cook for 3 to 4 hours or until the internal temperature at the deepest part of the meat registers 130 degrees F.
• Remove and use tongs to pull away the diamonds of skin and any sheets of fat that come off with them.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Dab dry with paper towels, then brush on a liberal coat of mustard, using either a basting brush or a clean paint brush (clean as in never-touched paint).
• Sprinkle on brown sugar, packing loosely as you go until the ham is coated.
• Spritz this layer lightly with bourbon, then loosely pack on as much of the crushed cookies as you can.
• Insert the thermometer (don't use the old hole) and return to the oven (uncovered).
• Cook until interior temperature reaches 140 degrees F, approximately 1 hour.
• Let the roast rest for 1/2 hour before carving
• A city ham is basically any brined ham that's packed in a plastic bag, held in a refrigerated case and marked ''ready to cook'', ''partially cooked'' or ''ready to serve''.
• Better city hams are also labeled ''ham in natural juices''.