Spice up your holiday dinner table

Tastes have evolved over the years, affording today’s dinner hosts more wiggle room when planning holiday menus. Though staples like ham may never be relegated to the dustbin, cooks can spice things up to make these beloved favorites a little more flavorful.

This spicy maple-glazed ham, adapted from chef Jacques Pépin’s “Heart and Soul in the Kitchen” for Bon Appétit, adds a little heat to the traditional holiday entrée. The former personal chef to French President Charles de Gaulle, Pépin notes that poaching a ham before roasting removes excess salt, ensuring the finished product is tender and juicy.

Spicy maple-glazed ham

Makes eight to 12 servings

• One 10-pound bone-in ham or
• 6-pound boneless ham
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sriracha

If your ham has a fat cap, score it lightly in a crosshatch pattern, spacing cuts a little less than an inch apart.

Transfer the ham to a large stock pot and cover with cold water. Cover the pot with a lid and bring the water to a simmer. Cook, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain a simmer, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the ham registers 140 degrees, about 70 to 80 minutes for boneless or 80 to 90 minutes for bone-in. Remove the pot from the heat and let the ham cool in the cooking liquid until lukewarm.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Stir the ketchup, maple syrup, balsamic vinegar and sriracha in a small bowl to combine.

Carefully transfer the ham to a wire rack set inside a foil-lined baking sheet and pat it dry with paper towels. Discard the cooking liquid or save it for another use. Brush the ham with about half the glaze. Transfer it to the oven and bake until the glaze is tacky and lightly browned in spots, about 30 to 40 minutes. Brush the ham with the remaining glaze and continue to bake until the glaze is deeply browned, about 10 to 15 minutes more.

Transfer the ham to a cutting board and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

The ham can be simmered up to 12 hours ahead. Let it cool completely, then transfer it to a wire rack set inside a foil-lined baking sheet and place it in the fridge, uncovered. Let it sit at room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes before glazing and baking.