This beer and maple braised ham recipe is from the excellent cookbook Made in Quebec: A Culinary Journey by Julian Armstrong.

It’s a recipe that I’ve been making for years, several times each winter and spring, and it’s always the same treat!

This is also a great recipe to cook for brunch or for a sugar shack inspired meal with baked beans and quiche.

This beer and maple braised ham recipe is a little different from the traditional maple glazed ham.

In this version, ham is cooked in a mixture of onions, leeks, carrots, beer, sugar and maple syrup.

This results in a melting and tasty ham.

It’s so good you won’t even need mustard to go with the ham, I promise!

Maple beer

The recipe uses a maple beer from Ferme Brasserie Schoune in St-Polycarpe.

But if you can’t find one, just use the same amount of beer and add 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of maple syrup.

Beer and maple braised ham

Name: Beer and maple braised ham
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 3 tbsp (45 ml) butter; 1 medium onion, finely chopped; 1 leek (white), finely chopped; 1 carrot, diced; 2 tbsp (30 ml) granulated maple sugar; 1 smoked ham with bone, 2 pounds (1 kg), pricked with 8 cloves; 1 tomato, peeled, seeded and diced; 1 bouquet garni (1 bay leaf, a few sprigs of fresh thyme and flat parsley tied together or wrapped in cheesecloth); 2 bottles (12 ounces, 341 ml each) of Blonde à l'érable, Schoune's maple beer (see note **)

Yield: 6 portions

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Additional Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

A slow cooked ham, braised in beer and vegetables with a touch of maple, that will outshine your average ham.

Ingredients

3 tbsp (45 ml) butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 leek (white), finely chopped
1 carrot, diced
2 tbsp (30 ml) granulated maple sugar
1 smoked ham with bone, 2 pounds (1 kg), pricked with 8 cloves
1 tomato, peeled, seeded and diced
1 bouquet garni (1 bay leaf, a few sprigs of fresh thyme and flat parsley tied together or wrapped in cheesecloth)
2 bottles (12 ounces, 341 ml each) of Blonde à l'érable, Schoune's maple beer (see note **)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
In a deep ovenproof pan with a lid, melt the butter over medium heat and sauté the onion, leek and carrot until soft (about 5 minutes).
Add maple sugar and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until lightly caramelized.
Place the ham on top of the vegetables, then add the tomato, bouquet garni and beer to the pan.
Roast in the oven, uncovered, for about 20 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 325°F (160°C) and continue roasting for another 45 minutes, brushing the ham occasionally with the beer sauce from the pan.
Remove the pan from the oven, place the ham on a serving plate and cover with aluminum foil. Let the ham rest for 10 minutes.
Slice the ham and serve it with the vegetables and beer sauce.

Notes

** Note for the beer: if you don't have maple beer, use 2 bottles of blonde beer and add 2 tbsp (30 ml) of maple syrup.

Recipe from the book Made in Quebec: A Culinary Journey by Julian Armstrong, 2014, by Quebec microbrewer Patrice Schoune of Ferme Brasserie Schoune in St-Polycarpe.

This article contains affiliate links, which means that a small commission will be paid to us if a purchase is made through these links, at no extra cost to the readers. It help us to cover the costs of maintaining this website, without costing you more.