A simple spiral sliced ham, brushed with a brown sugar, mustard and pineapple juice glaze enhanced with optional holiday spices and baked.

Baked Spiral Sliced Ham

I have a pretty good collection of baked ham recipes here on the website, but you may have noticed that I haven't ever featured a spiral sliced ham here. Ever.

Until today.

There's a reason for that, and it's simply that I have never had a great amount of success in warming them through without it ending up dry. Until today.

I am happy to say that, as simple as this ham is, it turned out excellent!

Brown Sugar Orange Glazed Ham

A simple clove-studded baked ham, made with orange marmalade, spicy mustard and brown sugar, easy but full of flavor!

Monte's Brown Sugar Orange Glazed Ham

You may not have heard of Monte's Ham. It's been around awhile, dating back to 1995, when Monte Mathews developed it for, and it subsequently became, one of Saveur magazine's most popular recipes, earning the author a bit of fame back then.

I haven't seen much talk of it as Monte's ham these days, though to be honest, I'm thinking the origins just got lost in the shuffle, as the popularity of a ham glazed with some form of orange became more commonplace. I'm pretty sure that Mr. Monte drove that trend though.

A quick skillet version of white beans and rice with ham, made with canned beans, the Trinity of vegetables and rice.

Ham and White Bean Skillet

Beans and rice are a big deal in the south, always have been really. Back in the day, they were an important part of the dietary needs of the people, because families were large and relatively poor, so any kind of bean was an inexpensive, nutritious and filling dish.

Mostly our beans are slow cooked from dried beans, on the top of the stove, and that's really the way I still love them best to this day.

Don't get me wrong. Electronic pressure cookers like the Instant Pot do an excellent job and makes a great pot of beans from dried, but slow-stewed still rules in my book.

Fresh frozen sometimes fill in, and though faster, still take a little care to make.  

A smoked bone-in half ham, baked and finished with a glaze patterned on our Southern Jezebel Sauce, made with apple jelly, pineapple preserves and pepper jelly mixed with lemon-lime soda.

Apple and Pineapple "Jezebel" Glazed Ham

I love cooking a baked ham all year round, so it's not just a holiday thing for me. I cook them for a planned meal, then put up freezer bags of vacuum-sealed ham chunks and the ham bone for later.

I wanted to give y'all another ham and had in mind the old school, traditional pineapple ham made with 7-up, Sprite or ginger ale, but decided to step it up a little bit by incorporating elements from my jezebel sauce, which is often used as a side condiment with baked ham, but using it here instead as a glaze.

A pork roast, rubbed with garlic, salt, cumin and oregano, marinated in a sour orange mojo with onions and then slow roasted. Serve Cuban-style, sliced and with a side of rice and black beans for your first meal - use leftovers to make a traditional Sandwich Cubano.

Cuban Pork Roast - Lechón Asado

For years I was deprived of a true Cuban-style sandwich. I wasn't even aware they existed, until I started developing and writing my own recipes for my website, Deep South Dish, but once I did, I was insatiably curious about them! There wasn't anyplace around here to buy one to try though - still isn't as far as I know.

From what I had seen around the net, the sandwich was very simple - a basic sandwich made with ham, cheese and pork roast - often just simply whatever pork roast was leftover from dinner. But, could that be right? Not so much.

A combination Italian style salad made of romaine lettuce, shrimp, boiled egg, fresh tomatoes, olives, loads of veggies and dressed with a spicy tomato and garlic dressing.

Combination Italian-Style Chopped Salad with Shrimp

Yessireebob... that there is what you call a main dish salad!

I know it's supposed to be fall but it's still pretty hot here in the Deep South, so I haven't moved away from summertime eating quite yet, and what a beautiful salad for one of the last salutes to summer!

This is a salad, that at least back in the day, was well known in the New Orleans and coastal Mississippi areas, when it had a rather colorful, totally inappropriate and not very politically correct name, which if you're from around here you know exactly what I am talking about.

I'll just leave it at that. It's what the Friendship House referred to as a combination salad, with lettuce, tomatoes, olives, shrimp, boiled eggs, loads of veggies and a garlicky tomato based dressing.

Baked Ham, basted with an apple cider, honey, brown sugar, pepper jelly and mustard glaze.

Apple Cider Ham

The Cajun loves baked ham, and I mean he loves it, so much so, that I don't wait for a holiday to cook them - I cook them all year-round! It's pretty good stuff, gotta admit, and it's good hot from the oven, at room temperature, or even cold, right out of the fridge.

There's so many things you can do with ham too, from sandwich fillings to beans to casseroles, that it makes sense to buy a big one for planned leftovers. I also prefer a bone-in ham, just to have the bone, but take into consideration the fact that it can often take up a substantial percentage of the weight of the ham. All the more reason to buy a larger one. I mean you just can't beat the flavor of a pot of ham bone beans!

A classic potato soup, made with bacon drippings, cubed ham, onion, celery and milk, and finished with cheese.

Cheesy Ham and Potato Soup

So, The Cajun was Super Bowl bonding with his Dad Sunday, and I wasn't all that interested in watching, so I made zero football snacks this year. Instead, I made this soup!

It's a variation of my Grandma's Homemade Potato Soup, this one starting with a little bacon and drippings, and adds in some cubed, baked ham and cheese! Delicious, comforting and easy... how could you not love that?

 

 Ham, egg and cheese breakfast cups, are little mini omelets, baked in a Texas muffin pan and stuffed into a crispy ham cup. Shown here with mushrooms and spinach, but easily adaptable for your own favorite add-ins, these reheat and freeze beautifully, making them a perfect make-ahead breakfast.

Ham, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Cups

I was flipping through my Woman's World magazine and was reminded about these little cups. I really enjoy that magazine! Have you ever read it?

I used to pick up a copy at the grocery store every now and again, so when I checked on a subscription, at first glance I had a little sticker shock! But after realizing it's actually a weekly subscription and not just monthly, I thought I would treat myself.

The magazine features things of interest to me as a woman - diet, fashion, gardening, health, crafting, spiritual inspiration, new cookbook features and, of course, recipes. This week's issue has the most adorable cupcakes and treats for Halloween so you might want to pick one up at the grocery store. One of the other recent issues featured egg cups similar to those I used to make often when I was working in the corporate world and had that long commute each way, every day.

Belly warming and hearty, a slow stewed ham bone stock is finished with drop dumplings.

Ham Bone Dumplings

In the south, we'll drop some biscuit dough in just about any dish with a soup or stew consistency - beans, soup, stews, they're all game. All dumplings require is a full-bodied stock and you're in business.

Starting ham and dumplings with a nice leftover ham bone, or absent that, a couple of meaty ham hocks, makes for a beautiful, rich stock base. The freezer preserved leftover holiday ham bone makes ham dumplings a pretty common thing in the first of the new year, especially when the weather outside's been frightening.

Baked bone-in half ham, made with a brown sugar and honey mustard glaze.

Honey Mustard Glazed Ham

Most of y'all familiar with my website know my No. 1 ham is the one that has been a favorite of The South for many years and the same one my Mama made - a brown sugar and mustard glaze with a Coca Cola pan sauce.

It's just such a good ham and always so well received, that it's pretty much the standard around here.

A classic soup combining dried split peas and ham, with a mirepox of onion, carrots and celery, enhanced with a ham bone or ham hocks.

Split Pea and Ham Soup

As much as I look forward to all those delectable holiday dishes that we wait all year to eat, I tire of it all pretty quick. By a day or two later, I usually start craving simple things like egg salad or grilled cheese and tomato soup, and anything that hasn't been consumed is destined for the freezer, where it will be re-purposed in another way, another day.

Slow Cooker Pepper Jelly Glazed Boneless Ham

Boneless ham, cooked in a slow cooker with apple cider and glazed with a brown sugar, mustard and pepper jelly glaze.

Slow Cooker Pepper Jelly Glazed Ham

I love baking my ham for the holidays, although a slow cooker is a great way to cook ham too, and like crockpot dressing, it's also a great way to free up space in the oven.

When you think about it, a slow cooker is really the perfect environment for ham anyway. Thanks to the natural self-basting that occurs, the ham stays moist and tender, and although a glaze may not finish quite the same as oven baking, that is easily remedied with a quick run through in the oven at the very end to get that nice, shiny set on the glaze, which is exactly how I finished the ham pictured.

 

A tender biscuit stuffed with smoked honey ham and shredded cheese.

Ham and Cheese Biscuits

These are great breakfast or brunch biscuits served alongside some fluffy eggs or even as a base for an egg sandwich. I like to use a sweeter honey ham for these, but any good smoked ham works fine too. With the self rising flour, ham and cheese, I don't usually add any additional salt, so do keep that in mind if you're tempted to add some.

Make mini biscuits for that next party and serve with some good pepper jelly - yum y'all!

Stuff to Make with Ham Bones and Leftover Ham

A collection of Deep South Dish recipes with ideas for what to do with that leftover ham.

Recipes Using Ham Bones and Leftover Ham

Looking for some ways to use up that leftover holiday ham or ham bone? I've gathered some of my favorite recipes here in one spot for you. Don't fret if you're not one to cook a whole bone-in ham, because these days you can get a mighty fine, plump ham bone at your local ham store, like Honey-Baked Hams, where they generally charge by the pound. They're beautiful bones and well worth the investment.

Perfect minis for a party, these sandwiches are layered with provolone cheese, black forest ham, salami and your choice of Italian cold cuts, such as hot capocollo or mortadella, dressed with creamy Italian dressing, lettuce, tomatoes and olives, if you like.

Mini Italian Sandwiches

Now, first caveat before I get lectured, this is not intended to be any kind of authentic Italian sub or hoagie. There was a pizza joint near my Biloxi apartment many many years ago, and I was addicted to one of their menu sandwiches, called the Mona Lisa.

Like a muffuletta, I could get one of those and eat on it for days.

Ham and bean soup, made with a ham hock or ham bone stock, a mixture of veggies and Navy pea beans.

Ham and Bean Soup

The soup photos I ended up with for my post don't really give justice to the beauty of this soup, and of course, the soup was long gone before I uploaded the shots I took. I can assure you of one thing though. This soup is divinely delicious! It was gone in no time at our house and I was left with that wish I had more feeling.

Deviled Ham Salad - Bologna Salad

Old School Deviled Ham Salad, made with ground ham, sweet pickles, pimentos and mayonnaise. My version adds in celery and onion, and a little horseradish, spicy mustard, hot sauce and Cajun seasoning with the mayonnaise.

Deviled Ham Salad

Back in the day, this deviled ham salad was made using an old-fashioned countertop grinder - the cast iron kind, that clamped onto the edge of the kitchen counter or a table. Usually, a slice or two of bread would be run through first, just to sort of clean it of any dried, leftover residue, since they were next to impossible to clean well. Everything else was added to the grinder in order, and then the salad mixed together with a homemade mayonnaise.

Old School Ham Bone Beans

Somewhere between a soup and stew, all thick and creamy and soothing, this full bodied and flavorful pot of white beans is all due to the ham bone.

Ham Bone Beans

I don't know about the rest of y'all but I sure have had a difficult time getting back into the swing this week. I've been busy enough writing new recipes and even cooking, but it's the post writing part that has me pulling off my best procrastination act this week.

For instance, I fully intended to have this recipe up on Monday... and here it is already Wednesday. I had it mostly done, I just kept putting off finishing the final cut and the coding that goes with all this website business.

Lady cream peas, seasoned with smoked meat, onion, garlic and fresh herbs, served with a side of buttermilk sour cream cornbread and pictured here, with broiled chicken.

Southern-Style Lady Cream Peas

Even though white beans and red beans and rice are common weekly features here in the Deep South, I love beans of all kinds, and all I need is a good rainy day like we had yesterday to have an excuse to make some, no matter the temperature outside. Most often served as a side dish to other foods, southern peas are another love of mine, and I absolutely adore Lady Cream Peas for their buttery flavor and super creamy texture.

Known as field peas, cowpeas, and simply southern peas - though calling them peas is a bit of a misnomer, since they are all actually beans - they are identifiable by their small size and by the seed-eye you'll find on them, that tiny little familiar spot most of us immediately recognize from black-eyed peas the most.