Honey-Glazed Ham with Apricots

A holiday table can hold a real centerpiece that belongs entirely to the way you eat. This ham is glazed and golden, and you can put it in the middle of the table and eat right alongside everyone else.

The ham itself is a generous source of protein, and pork brings zinc, one of the nutrients involved in immune regulation and gut-barrier repair. The glaze leans on honey and apricot for its sweetness rather than refined sugar, so the depth on the plate comes from real fruit, used with a light hand.

Let the smell of the glaze caramelizing fill the house, the way a holiday kitchen should. When you bring it to the table, take a moment with it, the shine of the glaze, the warm color, the people around it. Source the ham from a producer you trust and feel the gratitude in that. Then breathe, slow down, and let the meal land. Eating in a settled, grateful state is part of how the food serves you.

Ingredients

• 1 medium ham
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons apricot preserves
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons maple sugar

The one thing to confirm is the ham itself: choose a clean-label ham with no added nightshade spices and no questionable additives, since cured meats sometimes carry paprika or other off-protocol seasonings. The honey and apricot preserves stay, and the coconut oil is already the AIP-friendly fat the source uses in place of butter, so there is nothing to swap there. If you prefer, orange marmalade works in place of the apricot preserves.

Method

• Heat the oven to 325F.
• Whisk the honey, apricot preserves, coconut oil, and maple sugar together until smooth.
• Set the ham in a roasting pan and brush about a quarter of the glaze over it.
• Bake at 15 minutes per pound, roughly 3 hours for a medium ham, brushing on more glaze every 15 minutes until it is all used.
• Rotate the pan halfway through so no side overcooks, and let the ham rest before carving.

*Adapted from acleanplate.com*