A Cook's Library

In order to do my weekly fresh food shop at the farmers’ market and not the supermarket I have to balance my pennies very carefully. Lots of things such as grass-fed meat are more expensive, though justifiably so, meaning there is less money for other things, even when meat is bought in reasonably small amounts. But there is one thing I buy from the farmers’ market that is such staggeringly good value I don’t know why I don’t buy it every week and that is a cooked ham hock.

A hock of ham is the extreme shank end of the leg bone – it is large, in-your-face and well-and-truly meaty, yet it is one of the best value cuts of pork around; you can usually buy it cooked or uncooked to boil up at home. If raw, simply soak overnight to remove some of the salt and boil for up to 4 or 5 hours with some aromatics such as carrot, onion, bay and peppercorns in the pan for a delicious stock.

Freshly cooked and pulled from the bone, these juicy ribbons are excellent served with mashed potatoes and fresh seasonal greens, feeding a family of four for around 75p each. Most weeks, because of time constraints I buy a cooked hock. The one I buy comes smoked or un-smoked from Downland Produce and costs just £2.50 and it is BIG. Even after a less-than-careful slicing off of all the ham (I wanted to leave a little on to boil the bone up for a stock) I reckon I came away with at least 600g of meat. Consider that even 100g of hand-sliced, nitrate-free, free-range ham will cost £3.99 plus in a high-end supermarket and you begin to realise quite what a bargain this is.

Many good butchers seem to sell cooked smoked or un-smoked ham hocks which have seen a revival as a fashionable ingredient for back-to-roots English cooks and I am surprised that they can still be found so cheaply. I tend to go for un-smoked hocks as I find the smoky flavour can overpower other flavours. However if you want a replacement for pancetta or bacon this is a good and economical choice, for example in this bacon and beans recipe. And a smoky stock is excellent in place of chicken stock in this spiced chickpea and tomato stew.

Today I boiled up the bone with some aromatics to make just enough for a soup base and am combing the chunkier bits of ham and stock with broad and white beans and vegetables for a soup to create a cheap and nutritious meal for a surprisingly cool summer evening. The only downside to a hock is that it takes a sharp knife and considerable patience to take off the ham in anything resembling slices; without taking a bit of your finger with it, at least.  But it is possible to remove the ham in reasonable pieces and this soup uses up the chunkier remnants leaving the fine slices for sandwiches and salads.

Ham Hock and Bean Soup (serves 4)

1 large ham hock (weighing around 1 kg – this yields around 600g of ham, about 300g of chunkier bits for the soup) cooked, stock reserved (or make a stock with the bone of the cooked hock).

2 carrots, peeled and finely diced.

1 bulb of fennel, outer part removed (don’t waste it, use it in the stock pot), inner part finely diced.

2 sticks celery, finely chopped

1 onion, finely chopped.

1 small can or 300g freshly cooked white beans and 200g double podded broad beans (or 400-500g white beans).

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Finely chopped parsley to serve.

In a heavy-based pan warm the vegetables over a low heat in some olive oil without colouring until they soften. Add a grind of pepper and about 300g of chunks of ham (keep the finer slices for other uses). Allow the ham to soak up the flavours.

After 5-10 minutes add the ham stock.

Cook for 15 minutes then add the pre-cooked beans and broad beans.

Cook a further 5 minutes.

Adjust seasoning, you are unlikely to need salt as the ham and stock are both salty.

Serve with finely chopped parsley and a slug of good olive oil on top.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 30th, 2010 at 9:31 pm and is filed under Meat, Pulses, Soups. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.