Could you bring a ham?

Has anyone ever said that to you? We're going to the McNaught's house for Christmas dinner and we asked what we could bring. Adrianne said she like the yams I made at Thanksgiving, and, "this might be too much to ask, but John really liked that ham."

So I am making Herb Crusted Rotisserie Ham with a Southern Comfort mop again. I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow. Partly because our deck is leaking in to our sun room. And it would suck to be out working the grill in the rain for two or three hours. Somebody must make a grill umbrella.

Anyway, here's the recipe:



Herb-Rubbed Rotisserie Ham with Southern Comfort Mop BBQ Recipe
This Southern-inspired ham is loaded with fragrant fresh herbs and basted with a deliciously sweet concoction. For best results, pick a round ham so it cooks evenly on the rotisserie. Don’t have a rotisserie? You can still grill this with great results.

For the rub:
3 tablespoons mixed peppercorns
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons fresh chopped marjoram
2 tablespoons fresh chopped sage
1 sugar-cured smoked ham, butt end, 6 to 8 pounds

For the mop:
2 cups Southern Comfort
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup prepared mustard


To make the rub: Using a spice grinder, mill the peppercorns, mustard seeds, and fennel seeds. In a small bowl, combine the ground spices with the cinnamon, salt, sugar, marjoram, and sage.
Rub the mixture thoroughly into the ham, especially the fat, and refrigerate, covered, overnight.
To prepare the mop: Whisk together the mop ingredients. Set aside

Center the ham lengthways on the spit and adjust on the rotisserie. Score the fat if desired. Let the ham rotate over Direct Low heat, for 2 to 2-1/2 hours or until internal temperature registers 140ºF (60ºC). If you do not have a rotisserie, grill the ham over Indirect Low heat for 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Baste the ham three times with the mop during the last 30 minutes of grilling time. Remove from rotisserie or grill and let stand 15 minutes before carving.

Serve any remaining mop with the ham, if desired.

Makes 8 to 12 servings.


Here's a picture of all of the ingredients and the ham all wrapped up like a cellophane mummy. It sits in the fridge until tomorrow. I'm a little worried about how heavy it is and if the rotisserie can handle it. It's ten pounds and the last two I did were seven or so.




And I finished up my baking today. I did Peanut Butter Blossoms and brownies.

Now the brownies - was it actually baking? There were ingredients - eggs, oil, and water. But it was a packaged brownie mix. With caramel sauce. I did add frosting. But it was from a can - well, a plastic cup, actually. So I did enhance it a bit. I made them frosted turtle brownies. But it still feels like cheating.

But I did make the rest from scratch, including the reindeer poop cookies.

I have been really dilligent about keeping my kitchen immaculate every day for about two weeks now. But I am just too tired to clean up tonight. And half of the mess is flats of cookies and such. So tomorrow I'll face a messy kitchen, but it will clean up quickly as I put the cookies in tins to bring to neighbors.

I'm going to change topics here before I have to change my blog name to Mind Blogging Recipes.




Rachel was the Wrapping Queen today. She went nuts - have you ever used a hammer and a hot glue gun to wrap presents? She did. She made these custom gift tags with a cute little rivet to string ribbon through. I'm not sure what the glue gun was for. But they all look great under the tree.





Oh, that reminds me. I still need to wrap her gifts. Crap, when am I going to sleep?

Oh, one more thing - I didn't think it was possible, but I actually got a little sick of Jack Johnson today. I listened to his albums on my iPod while I braved the Clear Lake Safeway again today. And then I listened on the way home. And then I let it play while I was baking and rubbing the ham. And I realized I'd gone through all three of his albums twice and was in the middle of a third go. He's awesome, and he got me through the day. But I think we need a little time apart.