by Lauren

I hosted the Man Blog Christmas party at our house this year and I decided to prepare fiesta ham so it would really feel like a Christmas dinner. I didn’t want to use the pre-packaged sauce that came with the ham so I looked around the Internet for a simple ham sauce recipe I can make on my own. Eventually, I came across a recipe for a beer sauce that I modified a little bit. The beer sauce turned out to be a huge hit among my friends. By the time the party was wrapping up, the ham was completely gone – pineapple garnish, sauce and all!

I still need to make a couple of adjustments to the recipe; I think it needs more sugar and more beer. But this is the beer sauce recipe I used for the Christmas party.

Beer Sauce for Fiesta Ham

1/4 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup beer
1/4 cup raisins, cut in halves
1/2 teaspoon cloves (reduce if you don’t want it too spicy)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon butter

Melt the cornstarch in water. Combine brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan. Stir in beer and raisins. Slowly mix in cloves and cinnamon to taste. Cook for ten minutes, then stir in butter. Serve the sauce very hot!