Pork hocks

cuca

I am new to 'hocks' and bought one recently as it was so cheap. :j I soaked it overnight (not sure if I needed to as not sure if it would be salty??) and then put it in sc. I cut the meat off the bone make up a gravy and ate it with veg and my cabbage mash potato. Then I boiled up the bone again and made the most amazing pea and ham soup too...

So being very os I got two meals out of one cheap cut of meat - as i enjoyed it so much i got another two today....

My first thought was that I would use it instead of bought ham for the kids sarmies for school. Any other suggestion what I can do with them?

zippychick

Lentil soup using the stock it is cooked in is a biggie! Here is a thread about Hocks

The juices make lovely stock for lentil soup. Let us know how you get on.

Lois_and_CK

Please can you share your pea and ham soup recipe? Last time I tried it, it was minging (although I totally made it up as I went along).

I used the ham from mine for sandwiches. You could also have it with salad, or go Irish and have it with potatoes and cabbage.

kittyscarlett

Add the meat to : rice salads, pasta salads, pasta with a creamy sauce, omelettes, HM pizza, fried rice dish bulked out with lots of veggies, fritters, baked potatoes ( chop up and added to mashed tater innards with butter and/or some form of cheese, fresh parsley/chives/spring onions if have got and liked, put back in oven and bake again for a few minutes ) stuffed baked onions, and added into leek and potato soup right at the end.

HTH

cattybags

Ham and leek pie, lentil and tomato soup, ham sandwiches, quiche, pasta with carbonara-ish sauce, pea and ham soup, ham and cabbage, potted ham, ham and cheese bake...... yummmmm Tasty tasty tasty! (one of my favorite things)

kittyscarlett

Oh blimey yes, I forgot about potted ham - hock is great for that. I generally use 3 or sometimes 4 ( depending on how much I have and how moist it is )parts very finely chopped ham/boiled bacon/pork hock to 1 part butter ( you're suppose to use clarified but I never bother ) whizzed together a la hand blender along with a few pinches of mace/nutmeg, a pinch of cayenne and a good ol' grind of black pepper. Fine for sandwiches but best of all served with thick slices of hot toast !

Pink.

The meat from a hock can be used in the same way as leftover gammon. This thread has more ideas that may help:

Leftover Gammon

Pink

patchwork_cat

I had a cooked hock today from Asda and it was awful. Really gristly and tough. It was £1.99 too. How much are the raw ones and where from?

Stephen_Leak

Lois_and_CK wrote: »

Please can you share your pea and ham soup recipe? Last time I tried it, it was minging (although I totally made it up as I went along).

I used the ham from mine for sandwiches. You could also have it with salad, or go Irish and have it with potatoes and cabbage.

Try this one. To date, it hasn't "minged".

BOILED HAM plus PEA & HAM SOUP

For 2 servings of soup

INGREDIENTS
1 ham joint
500ml of water
125g (½ a 250g box) of dried peas
Ground black pepper to taste

METHOD

Rinse the ham in cold water, then soak the ham in cold water for at least 6 hours, changing the water once or twice if it is very salty, or according to any cooking instructions. If you are using dried peas, soak them in water according to the instructions.

Put the ham into a large saucepan and cover with fresh water. If you are using soaked dried peas, add them now. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat until it is just boiling (simmering).

Put the lid on the saucepan and cook according to the cooking instructions on the ham. Remove any salty white scum, which will probably form on the surface of the water. Check the liquid level from time to time and top up if it starts to dry out.

Remove the ham. Adjust the amount of water, if necessary, to the required quantity of soup.

If you are using fresh, frozen or tinned peas, add them now. Continue cooking until the peas are soft. Check the liquid level from time to time and top up if it starts to dry out.

If you have a food processor, put the soup in it and blend it to the desired consistency. If you have a hand blender, put it in the soup and blend it to the desired consistency. If you don’t have a food processor or hand blender, use a potato masher, press the soup through a sieve with the back of a spoon, or leave it lumpy.

Season with the pepper. Continue to cook for another couple of minutes.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

You can use dried, fresh, frozen or tinned peas. However, dried peas have to be soaked in advance.

Shred some of the ham and add it to the soup before serving.
Omit the ham and make pea soup.

TIPS

Pea soup can be any consistency from a thin liquid with soft peas floating in it to a thick paste you can stand a spoon up in.

cuca

patchwork_cat wrote: »

I had a cooked hock today from Asda and it was awful. Really gristly and tough. It was £1.99 too. How much are the raw ones and where from?

That is quite pricey I reckon. I am not in UK but here it works out to about 1 pound per kg which is cheap for meat I think. My hocks are just over kg each. I found them at our local supermarket that has its own butchery but I havent seen them before now..

Most likely the pre-cooked one wasnt slow cooked all that well - but thinking about it now, isnt hock the same as Eisbein which is slow roasted??

cuca

Lois_and_CK wrote: »

Please can you share your pea and ham soup recipe? Last time I tried it, it was minging (although I totally made it up as I went along).

I used the ham from mine for sandwiches. You could also have it with salad, or go Irish and have it with potatoes and cabbage.

I am sorry i didnt reply to the soup recipe - got so carried away on here :rolleyes:

I really cheated on my last soup - as I just took all the left over liquid from sc that I cooked the hock in, cut off all the meat from the bone and reboiled the bone again to get the last bits off along with some lentils.. As i was out of dried split peas, I just chucked in one of the tinned versions of split peas - seriously it was delicious :rotfl: I called it lazy pea and ham but probably the nicest tasting....