The great pork hock contest!

You may recall that, a couple of weekends ago, Cakes and I went to Regina to visit my sister and her fiance. While we were there, we helped my sister tile her kitchen floor. She, knowing many obliging farmers in the area, and having a fiance who hunts deer, paid us for our trouble in meat.

In case you were wondering:

one kitchen floor, tiled = 8 lbs deer sausage, 4.5 lb  pork shoulder roast, 4.75 lbs unlabelled possibly lamb chops/cutlets/steaks, 1.2 lbs unlabelled, possibly lamb, possibly beef, fillet-looking things, 3 lbs ground pork, 3.5 lb beef roast, 1.8 lbs possibly beef, possibly t-bone, steaks and 4.5 lbs pork hocks.

Not a bad haul for approximately 8 hours work. All farm-direct too.

I have never, ever in my life made anything with pork hocks. I don't even know what pork hocks look like, as these are wrapped in brown butcher paper.

The one and only recipe on Epicurious that uses pork hocks is a split pea soup. I HATE split pea soup.

So I'm throwing it open to you, Cher readers.

Gimme your pork hock recipes. Email them to me here.

I'll select one recipe, make it sometime between 27 July and 1 August and blog about it on 1 August 2005.

Comments

[sam]

no worries - just make the soup and send it to me - it sounds delicious, umm, pea and ham soup.

[Niki]

What about Teague Ezard's famous dish of fried pork hock, chilli caramel, spicy thai salad, fragrant rice (direct quote from menu). It's been on his menu since his first restaurant, and is apparently so good that he can't take it off.
I have no idea how he makes it, but a bit of Google research might throw up a few hints. If you do, let me know...I've been wanting to try it for years.

[Pille]

Here are two ways of using pork hocks from Estonian kitchen:

PORK HOCKS SIMMERED IN BEER (alias ‘Õlles hautatud seakoot’)

Put the pork hock into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and add 2 bottles of beer (lager), 1 carrot, 1 bay leaf, couple of cloves, 4 allspice berries and 1 tbsp of honey. Season with salt.
Bring to the boil and simmer for about 2 hours, until the hock is tender.
Make a gravy with the stock. Chop one onion and fry gently in butter. Add a tbsp of plain flour, cook until thickened. Add the stock and the cubed carrot (from the stock), bring the sauce to the boil, then reduce the heat and reduce a little.
Serve the hock and sauce with roasted or boiled potatoes.

ROASTED PORK HOCK (alias ‘Tervelt küpsetatud seakoot’)

Cut deep slashes into the hock (ca 1,5 kg weight) with a sharp knife.
Mix 5 tbsp of honey, 1 tsp of curry powder (that’s a non-Estonian twist obviously), 2 tsp of lemon juice, 2 tbsp of oil and 3 crushed garlic cloves. Rub the mixture onto the hock. If possible, leave to marinate for 3 hours in a fridge or larder.
Roast in a pre-heated 200˚C oven until the hock is tender and golden. Baste with the during roasting.
Serve with roasted potatoes and sauerkraut:)

[megwoo]

I bet it would make a stellar jook...

http://www.iheartbacon.com/recipes/recipe.php?recID=105

Lucky you!

[Moira]

Oh, no...you must only use pork hocks in a big pot of black-eyed peas! ;-) Well, that's how I enjoy them most anyway. I will try to formulate a recipe and get back to you this evening.

[Jennifer Grobe]

I randomly googled this page, but since I am here...

My mom makes this soup with pork hocks. Don't worry it isn't pea soup! This one has cabbage potatoes, onions and carrots.
She tells me they have been making it in the family since before they came from Ireland (about 3 generations ago!) and often mentions that it is "poor people food".

The broth is:
7 cups of water (or to cover)
2 pcs. pork hock (as in the supermarket) Fresh is fine smoked is even better, frozen is fine, just cook longer. More is better too!
2 tbs salt

Rinse meat well, and place into pot with above ingredients.
simmer/boil in a big stock pot until meat is cooked thouroughly. I like to cook it for about 2-4 hours to get the full flavour out of the bones. basically boil the hell out of it.

Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. (or handling temperature.)
Fish out the bones, and any other bits that might have fallen off and place them on a platter or large shallow dish.

This is very hands on... using a fork, and your fingers, pull the meat, skin, bones and fat apart. My mom skips this step and leavs the bones fat and skin in, but that just grosses me out.

Keep the meat, and discard the fat, bones and skin. Chop the meat into bite size peices.

For a nice clear broth and to "de-scuzz the broth" I put some cheese cloth in a strainer and strain the broth.

Return the broth and meat to the big stock pot and put it in the fridge overnight.

The next day, remove the soup stock from the fridge and skim off any fat while it is still solid. (another step Mom often skipped EW!)

The amounts of vegetables and variety varies depending on what is on hand, but the most crucial are Carrots, onions, cabbage and potatoes. I like a 1:3 ratio or greater for soup. For every 1 cup of meat, there should be at least 3 cups of vegetables.

Here are my preferences: Carrots and celery are generally peeled and sliced, onions and potatoes are diced and cabbage can be in shreds, but I find 3/4 inch dice works well and is easier to eat.

Add all the vegetables and cook until tender. I generally add the cabbage as one of the last things, as it cooks quickly.

This recipe freezes well, but watch your variety of potatoes. I find the red (slightly waxy) potatoes work best for soup, and you can even add some mashed potatoes to thicken the soup if you wish.

Happy soup making!

[Julie DuVal]

The pork hock recipe with potatoes, carrots, cabbage and onions was a favourite of my mother, who is Irish, too. I used to really dislike the 'boiled dinner' because my mother cooked it the day my sister and I were caught smoking cigarettes. We had to finish our pork hock dinner, and then my father asked us to light up. I felt pretty ill when he told us to inhale. But I have grown to appreciate the typical Irish pork hock dinner again. It is the only way I know how to cook them. It's really delicious on a cold winter evening.

[Grace]

Ah from Regina. Here's an excellent way of cooking pork hocks. Mix a sleeve of chopped Kressman's sauerkraut, the kind you find in the produce aisle, with one thinly sliced onion, one chopped apple, salt and pepper and a half tsp. celery seed. Put the pork hock in the bottom of a slow-cooker, and add the sauerkraut/onion mixture on top. Pour a bottle of beer overtop and cook for 6-8 hours, depending on the setting. It's absolutely delicious. You can also use pork shoulder, trimmed of fat and cubed and browned, instead of the pork hock.