“Assemble all the ingredients in the cooking vessel and sprinkle with crushed garlic”. Those words were written sometime around 1700BC, on an earthen tablet.
So little has changed in the process of slowly simmering something over heat until it all falls apart to create a wonderful aromatic stew. Though it’s a little early to be writing about stews, I feel the recent cold weather has forced my hand.
Ham hocks are one of my favourite things to cook slowly. They are so versatile and inexpensive. Often called a poor man’s ham in the past, they are now, for me, something to be prized and used in every aspect of our culinary endeavours.
Once a ham hock has been slowly cooked and flaked from the bone, it can be used in a multiplicity of ways: added last minute to a mushroom soup; layered with some nice Knockdrinna cheese and caramelised onions for a beautiful lunchtime sandwich; to a new potato salad with some gherkins and lovage; or folded into a lovely early autumnal stew.
You never want to rush the slow cooking of ham hocks, so I recommend cooking them overnight in your oven.
Take two ham hocks and place them in a deep oven dish. Add a carrot, a halved onion and some celery stalks. Cover with water, oven-proof cling wrap and then seal with tin foil. Place them in a 90 degree Celsius oven for 10-12 hours. I usually put them in at night before I go to bed.
Remove from the oven in the morning. Strain the liquid through a sieve and reserve it for your stock. Flake all the meat from the bone and discard the rest.
To make the stew: heat some oil in a large pot and fry some onions, courgettes and crushed garlic. When they are soft, add some cherry tomatoes and the stock. Bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer. Add the ham hock and some chopped parsley. Stir and serve.
