Pea soup....senate bean soup...black bean soup, mixed bean soup....made it a base for a minestrone....add some veggies, carrots, onion, celery green and;/or red peppers, zuchini, rutabaga, halved cherry tomatoes....cook a while, add some pasta and eat.
Linda C

My first thought was black bean soup, or just black beans (not soup) with the broth being a little more concentrated than for soup. Black beans are truly delicious when they are made well and I seldom have ham stock on hand.

Jim

This Navy Bean soup is really good. I made it for my 2007 Soup Party and have been making it ever since! Just use the stock in place of the ham hocks, and add some of your leftover ham to the soup, too! MMMMMM....

Navy Bean Soup
From Food Network Kitchens

1 lb navy beans, picked over, rinsed and drained
10 sprigs parsley
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 large smoked ham hocks, about 1-1/2 lb
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
8 c cold water
1 medium carrot, coarsely chopped
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
Butter for garnish

Place beans in a large saucepan and cover with cold water by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil and lower the heat to simmer. Cook for 5 minutes, remove from heat, cover and let sit for one hour. Drain and reserve. Tie parsley, thyme and bay leaf together with kitchen twine.

In large soup pot or dutch oven, combine the beans, herb bundle, hocks, onions and garlic with the water. Bring to a boil, cover and adjust the heat so that the soup cooks at a gentle simmer. Cook until the beans and hocks are completely tender, about 1-1/2 hours.

Turn off heat and remove hocks. Cool slightly. Remove meat from hocks, discarding the bones, fat and skin. Cut meat into small cubes. Remove herb bundle from soup and discard.

Puree about 3 cups of the beans with some of the liquid in a blender. (For a smooth soup, you may puree all the beans). Stir the puree and diced meat into the soup. Heat the soup and adjust seasoning as needed with salt & pepper.

Ladle into heated bowls, place a small pat of butter on top of each bowl of soup, serve.

John:

You can add some to your Spaghetti Sauce.
I have some Turkey Stock, from cooking necks and Roast Beef Stock.
I'll put some of that in too.
Gives it a good flavor, if you are not adding Sausage or Meatballs, when making a batch of Sauce.

I add the precooked Meatballs after.
Lou

Everybody is mentioning beans it seems, and that's the first thing that came to my mind. This'd be good stuff to reconstitute dried beans/peas/lentils in. No need for the final product to be a soup. It'd also be nice for cooking dark greens...

Why not freeze some for when you are in the mood?

Problem is, I'm almost never in the mood for split pea soup.

During my teens and twenties, I used to drive between Los Angeles and San Francisco, a lot. Either I was in NorCal and my girlfriend was in SoCal, or vice-versa, and being young and romantic we actually thought that long-distance relationships worked. Usually a couple of classmates would be in the same boat, so on Friday afternoon we'd pile into whoever's car was running and head off to the endless concrete strip through the Central Valley that is called Highway 5. There used to be, and maybe still is, a restaurant called Pea Soup Andersons at about the halfway point. We'd pull into the parking lot, throats raw and eyes bleary from chain-smoking or whatever else we were doing to stay awake, stagger into a booth, and have a bowl of split pea soup. I suppose the place served something else too, but pea soup was the house specialty, blaring from all the signs and menus, and with minds glazed from hours hunched in a tiny Volkwagen with 18-wheelers rushing past to a soundtrack of badly distorted Pink Floyd - graduate students all had slow cars with lousy stereos - we couldn't think clearly enough to order anything but pea soup. After mechanically downing the glutinous green goop, we'd go back out on the droning concrete. On the way back, we'd stop at Pea Soup Andersons again. The return trip was even less cheery, since someone in the car had usually been dumped by his girlfriend upon arrival and spent all weekend sleeping miserably on someone else's floor or, worse, her floor. The soup didn't taste any better.

And that is why I don't really care for split pea soup.

Try making it yourself...with some really nice smoked ham...bits of the meat left in the broth...add a little cream to smooth it out....not a lot just a bit...Oh yes and garlic....don't forget a gently hint of garlic....then ladle that lovely stuff into a bowl and top with some home made croutons made from your own French bread and toasted in the oven after being tossed with some seasoned olive oil.
Not really the same thing as the "gelatinous goo" you found along highway 5.
Linda C

Ah yes, Pea Soup Andersons...in Solvang IIRC. I was there when my DS was 2. He ate a couple bowls of that soup and a bunch of cracker packages. The waitresses thought he was cute. I should have taken him back to the waitresses 24 hours after he ate all that pea soup. :(

I seem to remember a fudge shop across the street? Back in the 'ol days Solvang was a destination place with lots of touristy-type stores all with a Dutch influence.

Back to your pork broth...I'm with those that recommended bean soup with the addition of either ham hocks or a ham bone. Also seems like you could make an Asian-inspired soup with steamed pork/veggie-filled dumplings, bok choy, mushrooms, carrot, etc. A few dashes of hot sauce would be good.

/tricia

"Back in the 'ol days Solvang was a destination place with lots of touristy-type stores all with a Dutch influence."

Errr. That would be Danish, not Dutch.

Jim

Solvang is where they make aebleskeevers....
And i still have not mastered that trick.
Linda C

Sorry, Jim. My mind just remembers all those tourist shops named "Dutch This" and "Dutch That". Haven't been there in decades.

/t

I had a really interesting and delicious dish at a local restaurant that used a pork/ham broth as the base of a pasta sauce.

It was reduced ham broth with chick peas (a few mashed to thicken the broth), carrots and fresh mint over freshly made spaghetti. Words can't even describe how good this was. I tried making it using a sauce made with pancetta (instead of broth), and as expected it was different but still really good.

Enjoy,
Andy

Looks like I have several choices for using the stock.

We're going to the beach with some friends and a gaggle of exchange students this Friday. I'm supposed to go early and make a Chinese dinner. I'm thinking about making pork and veg wontons, simmered in the liquid Wilbur.

Gustine. That's where the Pea Soup Andersens was and is. The horrific concept must have been franchised, because my search turned up at least two Pea Soup Andersons. They are spreading their vile goop over the country, like Martians or Triffids.

I turned my Essence de Wilbur into Lima Bean and Ham Soup.
Added some carrots, onion, celery and baby spinach. A few grinds of 4-pepper blend from Penzey's, some thyme and a bay leaf or two. Yum!! Freezes well and make great lunches later.

Enjoy it!

Deanna

Linda,

Maybe the video linked below will help you with your aebleskeevers. I gave an aebleskeever pan to my daughter-in-law along with this link and a couple of other YouTube links (there are many about aebleskeevers). She said she could not have made aebleskeevers without seeing the videos and that is understandable when you see it done. Her first batch turned out well.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Making Aebleskeevers With Chef Arne

Here is another video which shows aebleskiver turning in detail.

Yeah. OT, I know. Linda made me do it. ;-)

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Make Aebleskivers

Seen those videos....believe me they make it seem easier than it is!

I knew you'd say that, Linda. LOL

Jim

Hi everyone, I just joined in as a new member here. I was welcomed by Annie (see Her Easter Thread)

Adding to this post, you can make a Mess of Greens flavoring the water with your ham stock instead of using ham hocks or smoked turkey. Collards, cabbage, kale, and turnip greens taste great with ham stock in it.

I usually freeze mine flat in pint size ziploc bags with bits of ham in it.

I also use some in the combination of water, rice ratio for jambalaya for an additional flavor booster.

Okay, I'm jumping right in like Annie said. lol. Hope to meet you all.

The Japanese use ham stock in some of their soups, especially Udon noodle soup.

There is definitely a Dutch presence in Solvang, and there is one store that sells wooden shoes from Holland. Also there is a large windmill that looks very Dutch, although it may actually be Danish. One shop is called "The Dutch Shop".

I think you could use ham stock to flavor greens, such as spinach or turnip greens.

Lars

Adrienne, welcome to your first cooking thread! We're pretty friendly, although sometimes there's some contention over sugar in corn bread or grits, LOL.

Like you, I like to cook greens in ham broth, but I learned the hard way not to salt them until they were cooked and tasted. A "mess" of greens, some beans and cornbread on the side is one of my favorite meals. And yes, I was born and raised in Michigan. (grin)

Annie

Hello again Annie, I did gather that everyone was rather friendly here. I love southern style cooking, but I do not put sugar in my grits or cornbread. I was born in New York City and now live on Long Island.

? Do I need to do an introduction here, cause I just "Jumped" right in?

And I'll bet that sliced potatoes gently boiled in ham broth before being layered with cheese and a bit of the broth would be yummy.
Hi Adrienne!
Linda C