HAM HOCK HEAVEN.....

Still surviving, and still serving up meals, well most nights. I think we’ve succumbed 3 times to takeaway but always end up thinking it wasn’t as good as we’d hoped. But meal ideas get harder to keep interesting and although everything seems to be back on the shelves here the one thing you can’t buy off the shelf is inspiration. I try to keep stepping up to deliver something tasty, something as simple as ham, egg and chips was one of these dishes last week. It doesn’t always need to be inventive or exciting. Old favourites, the comfort food we knew and loved is often what’s required at this moment in time.

Last week I bought a smoked ham hock. They’re cheap and make a delicious stock for lentil soup. Simmered with an onion and some peppercorns for a couple of hours with lid off will give you a delicious ham base. No salt at this stage as it can be quite salty anyway. I let the hock cool before pulling off the delicious ham from the bone. I put this in the soup once made.

However this time, giving we’re all trying to stretch our meals out to cut down on supermarket trips, I decided to see what I could do with the ham.

Firstly I decided to make ham croquettes. Something we love as part of a tapas meal. Simply a thick white sauce made with butter, flour and milk. To enhance the flavour I added a bit of the ham stock. When I was happy with the consistency, remember it has to be handled and made into croquettes, I folded through some of the shredded ham and put it in fridge until it was really cold. It could then be shaped, dipped into flour, eggs and breadcrumbs before being deep fried. I was very happy with the results.

Next day I made a salad with mixed leaves hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, cucumber and some green beans and boiled new potatoes I needed to use up and of course  the shredded ham. All that was needed was a bit of dressing and we had a very acceptable lunch. 

Not quite finished yet!  Still had stock to use and the last of the ham. So to work on the soup. Fried an onion and garlic clove, added lentils a large peeled chopped potato, chopped carrot, tin of tomatoes and the stock. Let it all simmer until lentils were softened and everything was looking and smelling good. A taste to check seasoning and a splash of cider vinegar and the rest of the ham added gave us a great pot of soup which would last a few days. I know the “vinegar” will be a surprise to most of you but it was a tip I learned many years ago and it just seems to give lentil soup and added something!  

I hope you all agree that this was good use of a humble ham hock. Nothing complicated. Just a bit of preparation, time and you can have some good tasty food for little cost.