I was raised on a mix of authentic Scottish food, Barbecue, Cajun food, Tex-Mex, and the average American suburban dishes like casseroles, chili-macs and smothered steak. When my new high school sweetheart (later to become my wife) first met my mother, to my great horror she served authentic Scottish Steak and Kidney Pie. I liked it, but I think it the kidney part was a calculated effort to offend and scare off my wife. So I’m not a stranger to the fringes of the culinary world. I wonder then, how did I never encounter this basic staple of life, the ham hock?
While discussing this new-to-me culinary staple at our church lunch, I was met with unbelief. My really southern-fried friends of the greens-eatin’ South could not believe that I have never used ham hocks in my cooking. I had several wonder if I was raised in New Jersey or some other foreign land. After all, the hock is found in every home in Dixie. I consoled myself thinking “Texas isn’t Dixie, it’s Texas, and we were our own country before the South tried it, and for longer.” So there.
My friends of color must think that I’m extra-white for having never encountered the ham hock; possibly from some northern place like Cleveland where whole communities of pasty, sun-starved white people have lived for decades on a steady diet of potatoes and beer. And see, I’m not even sure if they don’t use ham hocks in Cleveland. They probably do, and likely its some glorious local bean dish that brings bright smiles to children’s faces. That’s how little I know about this porky part.
I’m really not sure how I grew up eating foods in Texas without ever knowingly encountering the ham hock. Mom used plain ham, my dad used salt-pork or a giant ham bone, and we all used that luscious pig-balm known as bacon grease. But never the smoky, delicious pork knuckle found at the end of the ham but before you get to the foot.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve eaten some ethnic food and some dishes unique to certain nationalities. Being the son of an authentic Scot, I’ve had the national dish. Anyone who thinks a sheep’s gut stuffed with liver, oats and grated lung isn’t a questionable way to use up all the animal must be crazy. But the Scottish have a reputation for being penny pinchers, and its a well-earned stereotype for a reason. Only someone that thrifty eats every bit of the sheep. I mean every little bit. Remember, we ate kidney pie. Think about that for a moment.
I’ve eaten escargot, frog legs, blood sausage, raw oysters, tripe, bugs, snakes, meal worms (admittedly, they were dried), various wild game, and last week I tried a fish eye. So I’m not challenged by culinary timidity. I’ll try it all.
So it is troubling to me that somehow, all my life, I’ve missed the wonderful ham hock.
That was remedied with a soup that was a big hit. I studied several ham soup recipes online, and all of them seemed lacking in one way or another. One didn’t have potatoes, and I wanted potatoes. Others had cube bouillon, that’s a disqualifier. Might as well get instant soup in a styrofoam cup. Still others just sounded plain and bland, like what I imagine they eat in England. I wanted to make a good and hearty soup my family would love, and one that was healthy. I just used what little cooking knowledge I had gleaned over the last few years to make my own recipe. It was well-received, many people, after they marveled that I had never used ham hocks, praised the soup and asked for the recipe. That, of course, calls for a blog post!
Ham, Kale and Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 4 smoked ham hocks, 5 if doing a larger pot.
- 1 to 2 cups of sliced/diced ham, leftovers are fine, or breakfast ham works. Use your own prefs on this. If its a salty ham, don’t use as much.
- 2 cups of dried Great Northern beans (or 4-5 cans, rinsed). I suppose any white bean would work.
- A quart or more of vegetable stock (non-salty kind, make your own, here’s my recipe, its easy)
- 1 bunch of Kale, large stems removed, chopped roughly
- A large handful of red potatoes, roughly cubed, more if you like.
- 3-5 stalks of celery
- 1 and a half onions, chopped
- 2-3 large carrots, chopped
- 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
- 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme, or more to taste. Or fine chopped fresh.
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
- 1 bay leaf, maybe 2
Directions
On the night before, soak the dry beans overnight in cold, clean water. This not only plumps them up, but purges some of the ‘offending’ characteristics of beans. Drain and reserve the beans. If you have to use canned beans, at least toss them in a colander and wash them down real well.
Sear the ham hocks in the soup pot, turn when necessary. Get some good brown color on the hocks, especially on the ends. Its the color that helps meat taste good. When satisfied, cover with vegetable stock and begin a boil.
Add water, potatoes, beans, celery, kale, onions, carrots, garlic, thyme, black pepper, and bay leaf in the stockpot; bring it all to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the meat is coming off the bones, about 2 hours.
Fish out the ham hocks from soup and let them cool. Cut what little meat there is from the bones, discarding fat, skin and bones. Return meat to the pot and add the diced ham. Monitor the saltiness, the pork should provide some salt, but you don’t want to add any until AFTER the ham has had time to come up to heat. Taste and add salt, if needed, only then.
Continue cooking until beans reach desired softness, then serve hot. Its rich and flavorful!
Alysheba Kitchen 