Oct. 27th, 2012 07:15 pm
Rehabilitation
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muckefuckThe Old Man bought a shitty city ham last weekend which even the tried-and-true Frugal Latvian Method (boil then broil) failed to redeem; the meat was decent on the outside, but terribly salty more than an inch in. I figured the only solution was to dice, sauté, and simmer. (It was a fatty piece of meat as well, so this would also allow us to trim most of the big veins of fat and render the remainder.)
I like my ham and split pea, but I was craving something a little different so I bought a bag of assorted beans. While those were soaking, I drained the fried ham pieces, reserved a bit of the oil, and made a stock with the fond plus peelings from a celeriac, a parsnip, parsley root, a carrot, and a Spanish onion and plenty of water to dilute the saltiness.
Then it was drain and discard, heat the reserved oil, sauté the diced vegetables, combine with broth, beans, ham, garlic, bay leaf, sage leaves, and marjoram twigs. With a half hour to go, I threw in the minced leek, and then kale in the last ten minutes. That was a suggestion of Bittman's--I haven't used kale in soup before, but I will again. Unlike spinach, cooking doesn't make mush of it.
The result was a good old-fashioned "stoup" like my dad would make (albeit minus the sweet corn). It kind of amazes me that the meat in it was subjected to cooking no fewer than five different times (boiled, boiled again, roasted, sautéed, and boiled a third time). There's not much in this world besides ham that can stand up to that sort of treatment and still come out tasting good.
I like my ham and split pea, but I was craving something a little different so I bought a bag of assorted beans. While those were soaking, I drained the fried ham pieces, reserved a bit of the oil, and made a stock with the fond plus peelings from a celeriac, a parsnip, parsley root, a carrot, and a Spanish onion and plenty of water to dilute the saltiness.
Then it was drain and discard, heat the reserved oil, sauté the diced vegetables, combine with broth, beans, ham, garlic, bay leaf, sage leaves, and marjoram twigs. With a half hour to go, I threw in the minced leek, and then kale in the last ten minutes. That was a suggestion of Bittman's--I haven't used kale in soup before, but I will again. Unlike spinach, cooking doesn't make mush of it.
The result was a good old-fashioned "stoup" like my dad would make (albeit minus the sweet corn). It kind of amazes me that the meat in it was subjected to cooking no fewer than five different times (boiled, boiled again, roasted, sautéed, and boiled a third time). There's not much in this world besides ham that can stand up to that sort of treatment and still come out tasting good.
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