Amazing Glaze.

Byline: KIMBER WILLIAMS The Register-Guard

WHEN IT COMES to ham, a good glaze is the culinary equivalent of slipping on your Easter best - it just makes for a pretty table.

Whether a delicate crust of crackling brown sugar or a glistening coat of fruit-sweetened syrup, a glaze offers a subtle counterbalance to the salty, wood-smoked flavor of ham.

Right?

Well, yes, say some local culinary experts - executive chefs responsible for preparing some of the area's biggest Easter brunches for hundreds of hungry celebrants who will show up at hotels and restaurants. But is it really worth the trouble?

To some, glazing a ham offers the twin bonus of adding complex flavor and a shimmering visual finish - a culinary voila!

Others find glazing a ham a redundant, time-consuming exercise. With the hearty flavor of ham, why improve upon succulent, pink perfection?

Brush a glaze on too early, crank the oven too high and that flavorful finish becomes a scorched blanket of shellack, permanently sealed to the bottom of your roasting pan.

And without deeply scoring or marinating the ham, it's not likely that flavor will truly penetrate the meat. A glaze, after all, is only skin deep.

So we confront the issue: To glaze or not to glaze, that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler to blanket a ham in maple syrup, Dijon mustard, orange marmalade and a splash of bourbon than to serve your ham au natural?

"It really depends on the quality of the ham," suggests Michael Thieme, executive chef at SweetWaters in the Valley River Inn.

"If you have a really nice, low-salt ham, you probably don't need to. You shouldn't need to. There may have been some herbs in the (curing) brine to help infuse flavors to begin with - that, and smoking with good, sweet fruitwood is all you really need."

In theory, of course. That's assuming that you can get your hands on a good, flavorful ham. And the first step in making an Easter ham should be assessing its flavor.

"If you're doing a big dinner, know your ham," Thieme insisted.

Since a cured, smoked ham has already been cooked, he suggests trimming a small piece off the bottom of the ham - where dinner guests can't see - for a taste before it ever reaches the oven.

If the "flavor profile" isn't up to par - or if the ham is especially salty - Thieme will often reach for a simple, light glaze to counteract a too-strong sodium taste.

"Either maple sugar, packed on, or maple syrup - real maple, never imitation, that's just corn syrup with flavoring," he said.

The sugar creates a sweet, fragile crust, the syrup a sticky sheen. Thieme also employs a simple trick to keep the chosen coating on the ham: Rub a ham down until it's dry, refrigerate it for an hour or so and then pack on sugar or brush on syrup - honey works in a pinch.

After coating the ham, Thieme returns it to the refrigerator to set up and dry again - a process he may repeat several times before cooking the ham slowly in low heat. Many recipes suggest adding a glaze in the last 30 minutes of cooking or basting repeatedly - not Thieme's style.

"The problem is, people want to apply a glaze just before heating a ham and it usually slides off right onto the bottom of the pan."

The real secret is to select a quality ham. "We use a short-shank ham that I've bought for years from Fulton Meat Company in Portland. Locally, I like to look to the independent meat counters."

When it comes to creating visual "oomph" with a ham, nothing rivals a good glaze for impressing dinner guests, said Michael Bloomer, executive chef at the DoubleTree Hotel in Springfield, which serves about 600 guests each year at Easter.

"It's all about eye appeal," he said. "Ham is flavorful enough, in and of itself, but a glaze gives it a moister look, just makes a ham pop and shine."

Bloomer prefers an easy, low-maintenance glaze of Dijon mustard and honey. Because of the high sugar content - and the risk of scorching - he prefers to brush on a glaze just before serving the ham.

"All it amounts to is caramelizing the exterior of the ham," he said. "But it's a funny thing - some people love a glazed ham, other people will say, 'Ah, you ruined it.' '

He tries to appease all palates by offering a side sauce at the carving station. "But at Easter, you have to have ham - it's the staple," Bloomer said. "I found that out the hard way when I went with leg of lamb one year."

A glaze doesn't have to be sweet and sticky, either. Savory herbs, liquor, spices and hearty wines can also lend intriguing results.

"We tend to have this image of a glazed ham with brown sugar, pineapple rings and cherries, just like your grandma used to make," said Steve Taylor, executive chef at Big River Grille in the Eugene Hilton hotel.

"You never moved it and you cooked it to death," he said with a chuckle. "With an Easter ham, I like something different - maybe the sweetness and mild acidity of apple juice, even orange juice, and some fresh cloves.

"Sometimes, I'll do a glaze. Sometimes, I'll incorporate Dijon mustard, fresh cracked pepper and fresh rosemary into a kind of wet rub, which enhances the flavor just as it would for prime rib."

Scoring the meat - carving a deep diamond pattern into skin and fat - or even marinating a ham for days or hours prior to roasting also will yield flavor benefits, he said.

Like most chefs we spoke with, he favors a bone-in ham for maximum flavor and moisture.

"If not, chances are that you'll get a ham that's pressed and rolled. When it's stripped from the bone, it comes off in three pieces and has to be reassembled and vacuum-packed with that clear gel - that's the glue that holds a ham together," he said.

There's no doubt that a glaze has eye appeal, but at Oregon Electric Station, executive chef Tom Smith says he'll often pass on a glaze.

"It looks great and tastes great, but doesn't actually penetrate the ham more than the first half-an-inch," he observed. "For me, on a food service level, it's almost a waste of time."

When he does use a glaze, he reaches for "The Joy of Cooking," which offers this holy trinity: equal parts honey and soy sauce with dry mustard.

"Sometimes I'll go with a spirit glaze, with equal amounts of red wine and bourbon, plus brown sugar, crushed cloves and grated orange peel."

Either way, he points out, it's hard to go wrong with an Easter ham. "They're an excellent yielding meat, easy to carve and a very safe meat - they're already cooked, so it's almost impossible to overcook them."

Cranberry-Burgundy Glazed Ham

1 10-to-14 pound bone-in cooked ham

Whole cloves

1 16-ounce can whole cranberry sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup burgundy or other dry red wine

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

Place ham, fat side up, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Score fat in a diamond pattern; stud with whole cloves. Insert meat thermometer in thickest portion of ham without touching the bone. Bake in 325-degree oven for 3 hours, or until thermometer registers 140 degrees.

In a medium saucepan, stir together the cranberry sauce, brown sugar, wine and mustard. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. During the last 30 minutes of roasting, spoon half of sauce over ham. Reheat remaining sauce and pass with ham. Serves 32.

From "Better Homes and Gardens: 75 Years of All-time Favorites."

Smoked Ham With Zinfandel-Orange Glaze

1 6 1/2 -to-7 1/2 pound smoked ham

1 12-ounce jar orange marmalade

1/2 cup hearty red wine, such as zinfandel

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

2 garlic cloves, crushed under a knife

Place the ham in a large kettle and add enough cold water to cover. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat (this step improves the flavor by extracting excess salt and could take up to 45 minutes). Drain and cool completely.

In a medium bowl, whisk together marmalade, wine, orange juice and garlic. Place the ham in a large plastic bag (such as a small garbage bag) and pour in the marinade. Close the bag and place in a large bowl to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil. Remove the ham from the marinade, scraping off any bits of orange peel. Strain the marinade and set aside.

Place ham on a roasting rack in the pan. Bake, basting occasionally with the marinade, until the meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of ham shows about 140 degrees, or about 1 1/2 hours.

Transfer ham to a carving board or platter. Let stand 15 minutes before carving. Makes about 16 servings.

From "Thanksgiving 101' by Rick Rodgers.

Ham With Apple Mustard Glaze

1 12-to-14 pound shankless, skinless smoked ham

1/2 cup apple jelly

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Whole cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Score top of ham into diamonds and stud center of each diamond with a clove. Place ham on a rack in the middle of a roasting pan and bake in the middle of an oven for 1 1/2 hours.

In a small pan, heat jelly over moderate heat, stirring until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in mustard. Spread glaze evenly on top of baked ham and bake 35 minutes more.

Transfer ham to a platter and let stand 15 minutes. Serves 8.

From Gourmet magazine, December 1995.

Features reporter Kimber Williams can be reached by phone at 338-2374 and by e-mail at [e-mail].

CAPTION(S):

Cranberry-Burgundy Glazed Ham is one of many delectable options for Easter dinner.