Karl’s Easter Grilled Ham Steak with Cranberry Orange Marmalade

When I proposed my usual Greek lamb for this Easter’s dinner, I was faced with a bit of a revolt. We finally settled on both ham and salmon as the main dishes. For everyday meals, I usually broil my ham steaks, but—since I was already planning to plank grill the salmon—grilling it this time was an easy decision.

While I have made—and posted—my ham and marmalade before. However, I have only served it to wife Jan, daughter Eilene, and myself. This Easter We are also having Jan’s new brother, Rafe, and daughter Miriam—who had asked for ham this year—and son-in-law Chris.

When Safeway has a half price sale on hams (after a holiday) I buy a half a ham and cut it into ¾ inch ham steaks to freeze for later. A ham steak is pretty much just a slab of meat. The trick is what glaze do you put on it to dress it up.

At Christmas, I was experimenting with adding cranberries to my Christmas marmalade. It was such a success that, when I was orange bombed in January, I decided to make a batch with whole cranberries. You can do more with marmalade than simply spreading it on toast, you can spread it on a ham steak.

Karl’s Easter Grilled Ham Steak with Cranberry Orange Marmalade

Ingredients

2 lb. ¾ inch ham steak

2 Tbs. Karl’s Super-Concentrated Fine-Shred Orange and Cranberry Marmalade

¼ cup arugula

Directions

1. Heat your grill and build a bi-level fire.

Tip: You want the grill bars to be quite hot when you put on the ham, but you do not want the ham directly over the heat.

Note: The plank salmon will be placed on the hot side of the grill. With a gas grill, this is simply a matter of turning all of your burners on high to start and then setting the burners on one side to their lowest level.

2. Pat ham steak dry and let it air dry for 20-30 minutes.

Tip: The dryer the surface of your meat, the better “grill marks” you will get.

3. Lay the prettier side of your ham steak on the cool side of the grill and close the lid.

4. Let the ham sear for 10-15 minutes.

Tip: If you want cross-hatched grill marks, rotate the steak 60-90 degrees after  five minutes.

5. Flip the ham steak over and spread the marmalade all over the top.

Tip: While you may use any marmalade as a glaze, if you are using the cranberry marmalade arrange the berries decoratively over the steak.

6. Grill the ham steak for 15-20 minutes, with the grill closed, until it reaches an internal temperature of 140º F.

Tip: An instant read thermometer is a useful purchase, but I have yet to find one that is really “instant.”

Note: Do not grill the steak for too long or the meat will turn tough and dry.

7. Transfer the ham steak to a serving plate and garnish with arugula.

Tip: The ham sitting all by itself on the plate looked naked, so—since I had not yet dressed the salad—I pulled some arugula out as a garnish.

8. Serve warm.