Smoked Ham Hocks

[rabbithutch]

After discussions here about special menus for New Year's Day, I happened by the meat counter in my local supermarket and found a package of three smoked ham hocks. They are complete with skin, bone and what meat there is. I was thinking about using them to flavor a mixture of collards and turnip greens and maybe even one in the black-eyed peas. The main meat dish will be pork tenderloin and there will be baked potatoes and corn bread.

Here's my question: Is it possible that the smoked ham hocks will over power the greens and peas? If so, how do I mitigate against it? I suppose I can find the cleaver and whack the hocks into smaller pieces, but I'd rather not do that if it isn't necessary.

How about it Kat and all you other Southern cooks?

 

[bear55]

I often use a whole smoked hock to season beans or peas.  I also use them for greens, usually slicing them off bone for greens,

 

[moikel]

I am a southern cook,southern hemisphere !
1 way is to simmer the hocks with bay leaf,a carrot,an onion ,celery stick,until the meat will come off the bone.
Save all the broth to cook your greens or beans in.You can stick it in the frig,set the fat ,skim it then start the process again. Add the cooked hock meat back in when you are ready.
If the broth is to strong you can dilute with water, I would not add salt to anything until I tasted it close to the end. Shop bought hocks can be overly salty.

 

[rabbithutch]

Thanks, Moikel!

Took your suggestion and it worked treat. Once the hocks were warmed up and had released some of their fat, I took them to the cutting board and sliced off the skin and much of the fat just beneath it. The rest went into the pot of collard greens and kale and into the pot of black eyed peas.

Here you see the three main dishes: pork tenderloin, black eyed peas and greens - the perfect menu for a New Year's Day meal.

New Year's Day 2014.jpg

• rabbithutch
• Jan 2, 2014

This is a close up of the pork tenderloin I cooked for Christmas dinner. It has rosemary and thyme for spices and tart apples for, well, tartness. Everything was sprinkled liberally with brown sugar and a bit of cinnamon.

Christmas 2013 Pork Tenderloin.jpg

• rabbithutch
• Jan 2, 2014

Best regards to all and so long.

rh

 

[moikel]

You hit that out of the park. Looks great.

 

[leah elisheva]

Such beautiful photos!!!! WOW! Nicely done! Cheers! - Leah

 

[huntnfishnut]

My MIL cooks up some mean hocks. Seeing this, I will definitely be trying them in the smoker.