Got a nice cheap cut the other day..1.50. But what's the best way of cooking it? I've got a slow cooker so was gonna chuck it in there with sum cider/vegs!?
is that the same as a "ham shank"? tee hee,,, not sure there's much cooking involved there,,,,
if it's past its sell by does that count as a danger "ham shank"?
Technically it's a gammon till it's cooked - then it's a ham.
I usually rinse it in cold water to get rid of the excess salt & saltpetre, then put it in a pan and cover it with ginger ale (not slimline), plus a few other bits, like bay leaf, peppercorns, root ginger etc. and simmer it for 90 mins.
Then put it in a roasting tray, cover with foil and bake in the oven for about half an hour.
I then use a bit of the simmering liquid to make a gravy and serve with creamed potatoes.
Reduce the liquid to half a pint or so, cool, put in the fridge till the fat solidifies on top and scrape this off and discard it (sometimes there isn't much, if any). The rest of the liquid makes a lovely base for a barbeque sauce for finishing roasting spare ribs or belly pork in.
Variations: some people use Coca-Cola instead of ginger ale, and cover the hock with treacle when baking. I'm not keen on the treacle thing - it tends to burn.
use it to make a proper broth
With peas
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then wrap in bacon and serve.
Ta I'll try big johns idea.... Mainly cos I don't understand the last one...
If it's a ham hock (which it sounds like it is), then I use them to make yummy pea and ham soup.
Rinse your meat (arf) in cold water, then pop it in a big saucepan. Cover with cold water, then add a whole packet of split yellow peas. Chuck in some peppercorns, and some chopped swede (prob a whole one, as long as it's not too big!).
Bring to the boil and simmer for an hour. After the hour is up, take out the meat and start to shred it off the bone. If it's not flaking off easily, then pop it back in for a bit longer. The meat should be tender enough to fall nicely off the bone. Take it all off if you can, chop it into bitesize chunks and put the meat back into the soup and simmer for another hour.
At the end, you should have a lovely yellow gloopy mess of hammy, peppery soup. Serve with lots of buttered tiger bread.
Yumz0r!