2004: Year of the Ham Hock

Looking back over the last year, the single ingredient that influenced my cooking most would defintiely be the smoked ham hock. I've mainly been using it to create a 30 minute stock that I use primarily for soups.

Smoked ham hocks (along with chopped celery, onion, carrots, bay leaves and peppercorns) can be simply simmererd in water for a half an hour to produce a deeply flavored, smoky bacon infused broth.

Best of all, the ham hock stock comes out incredibly light vs. my initial expectation.  While it needs to be skimmed, it's less fatty than most chicken stocks I make. 

Use this stock in the Thai soup I created for Gothamist and you'll see what I mean.