Cranberry Baked Ham Steak

Its a horrible day out there today. The wind is blowing and the rain is falling. Its not fit for man nor beast. Its probably one of the few last days where I will feel comfortable putting my oven on and so I took advantage of that to make myself a Cranberry Baked Ham Steak dinner.

We get these lovely full round ham steaks at the grocery stores here in Nova Scotia. A full round slice of ham, bone in, about 1 inch thick. One of these is the perfect size to feed four people.

For myself, I cut them into four pieces and freeze three (individually wrapped) to enjoy on another day. This really makes for an economical main meal, whether you be one person or four people. You can usually pick up a full slice for not much more than $6.

I feel that I need to apologize for the quality of my photos today. The lighting is so poor. I like to photograph all of my recipes in natural light and on days like this things can look darker than they should, or even have a hint of blue.
I hope this won't put you off from trying this very delicious and simple entrée!

This recipe comes from the pages of my Big Blue Binder. This is a blue vinyl binder that I have been collecting hand written recipes, and magazine clippings in for over 45 years or more now. Recipes shared from friends, clipped from magazines, copied from books, etc.
I can't really give you the original source of this recipe. I suspect it was my mother's old Co-op cookbook, but I can't say for sure. I used to copy down recipes from that book every time I went home to visit.

It was an old community cookbook that my mother had from the town where she grew up in. Old. Old. Old. I think my sister has the original book now. Its a real family treasure and falling apart at the seams. Its the only cookbook my mother ever really had.
You know how those community cookbooks work. People enter in their very best recipes, family favorites, etc. Most of the recipes are sure to be really good ones, and I have to admit that this one is no exception!!! Quick to make, easy to make, and delicious!

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CRANBERRY BAKED HAM STEAK
Only three very simple ingredients!

1 full round ham steak, cut into serving sized pieces
1 TBS Dijon mustard
1 cup (295g) whole berry cranberry sauce

In the UK, you can use gammon steaks. In Canada, ham steaks are fully cooked and only need heating through. In the UK gammon is uncooked, so you may need to cook them for a tiny bit longer.
The original recipe simply called for prepared mustard. I took the liberty of using Dijon. Its not as garish a color and is not as sharp or vinegary. It has a subtle warmth, but if you only have prepared mustard, by all means use that.

You can use any brand of whole berry cranberry sauce. Today I used a wild Cranberry Sauce by Sprague Foods. They are a company from Prince Edward Island. I love their products. They use no preservatives and are organic for the most part.
They may cost a bit more, but you get what you pay for. Usually you can find them somewhere on special. Their baked beans are the best!

HOW TO MAKE CRANBERRY BAKED HAM STEAK
Nothing could be easier. Really. As I said, today I baked only one portion. Quantities are given for four portions, with single quantities in brackets.

Preheat the oven to 350*C/180*F/ gas mark 4. Cut your ham steak into 4 pieces.Spray a baking dish large enough to hold them in one layer. (I did only one portion today and froze the other three pieces of ham. 1 tsp mustard, 3 TBS of cranberry sauce.)Spread the mustard all over the surface of the ham steak. Dot on the cranberry sauce and then spread it over to cover the mustard.Bake in the preheated oven for half an hour until cooked and heated through. Serve hot.

There will be some liquid in the baking dish. This is normal. The ham will release a lot of water. It is the same with most meats these days. I think that they are pumped full of water to increase the weight, but I could be wrong.

I served my ham steak simply with some boiled and buttered new potatoes on the side and some steamed tender stem cauliflower. It was a simple meal and quite delicious.
This ham would go well with any kind of potato, steamed, boiled, baked, mashed, etc. It would also go really well with macaroni and cheese.
Watch this space to see what I do with the other three portions of my ham steak! It will be something delicious for sure!!

Here are some other Ham Steak Recipes which I have shared here in my English Kitchen. I promise you they are all delicious!
HAM STEAK SHEET PAN DINNER - I love sheet pan dinners. Dinner doesn't really get much easier than this. Everything cooks on one sheet pan. Ham steaks, lightly glazed, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, green beans and carrots. Everything is timed to perfection so it all ends up being perfectly cooked at the same time, and if you line your sheet pan with some aluminum foil, clean up is minimal!

PINEAPPLE GLAZED HAM STEAK - No need to cook a full ham when you are a pair of empty nesters or a singleton all on your own. You can still have a delicious ham dinner. Tender and juicy ham with a sweet tangy pineapple and maraschino cherry glaze. Delicious as well as being very pretty! I would serve this to company.
éYield: 4Author: Marie Rayner