This post is not going to appeal to my Muslim friends so I will catch you up next post with my latest craft favs.
It has occurred to me that there is a generations below me in Australia have had very little experience with cheaper cuts of meat and are very adverse to using them.
Ham hocks are the lower leg part of the pig before the hoof. After smoking a leg of ham or bacon the hock is the "useless" part.....that is you can't slice bacon from it.
It is still very meaty and flavoursome. They don't look very pretty but are wonderful surprise packages really.
I put mine in the slow cooker with onions, carrots and red lentils. I add tomatoes, stock and either Moroccan-style spices or use Chinese five spice powder to compliment the pork. After cooking for about eight hours on low in the slow cooker, I simply grab the skin and bone with a pair of tongs and they slip right out leaving beautifully tender meat behind that is easily broken up through the casserole.
Come to think of it this is not going to appeal to my vegetarian friends either.
The ham hocks cost around $3 each from the butcher and one will easily feed a family of four cooked in this way. Other traditional additions to this type of casserole are split peas and dried beans.
go the ham hocks ! pea and ham soup is a fav at our place - also known as Grandads Soup !
ReplyDeletethis is the education we need - i gave the dog some lamb shanks when we had our first home grown lamb - didn't i get an ear full for that - i know better now :)
Thanks for this recipe Tanya, although I don't eat meat my family do and I'm pretty sure that they will love this.
ReplyDeletecheers Kate
Hi Tanya,
ReplyDeleteI love ham hocks and love cooking them with baby lima beans, and always add fresh (or dried in the winter) bay leaves, thyme and garlic chives. I cook the hocks slow, just like you do, then cook the beans until nearly done, then add the ham pieces. I remove the bay leaves and drain most of the juice (from the beans) off and then add @ 1/2 of heavy cream right before serving. That's the Yankee way, lol! Thanks for sharing something different for me, Elaine in Texas
Thanks Elaine. It's so great to have you expand on the topic and give us another recipe.
ReplyDelete