Recently, I had a ham bone and related ham trimmings left over from a meal. I've learned to use all my dinner bones to make stock - a super-simple task which would have been particularly useful in my "starving" college student days. This time, I decided to go straight to soup with the bone. I also made use of the broccoli stems no one really likes in any other form. Why waste them?
The end result - a happy family on a cold, rainy night. Served with a side of sourdough bread and butter.
Best Family Ham Bone Soup
1 ham hock/bone with trimmings on1 qt. vegetable broth (for the sake of time savings)
1 onion, diced
1 T. olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 broccoli stems, diced
1 tsp. Suzie Q seasoning (or other favored seasoning mix)
1/8 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
3 healthy twists of the black pepper grinder
In the bottom of your stock pot, saute onion in olive oil until onions are translucent and beginning to brown (or well-browned for sweeter soup). Add garlic and saute another 2 minutes.
To the same pot (we're not big on piles of dishes around here), add the remaining ingredients. Bring nearly to a boil, then allow to simmer for an hour or more.
This soup, like most other homemade soups we've tried, is best after it's been allowed to simmer a good long while, then sit, refrigerated, overnight (or for a couple of days), before being heated for the actual meal. However, we enjoyed it on its first night out nearly as well.
Another note: our bone was quite sparse on meat. Meat lovers might consider leaving extra on the bone at carving time if you're planning to make a soup.
Enjoy!
One of our favorites in this house also. We had some last week to chase the cold away. A good hot soup is great on these days when the temp. is in the teens or single digits.
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