Grandma’s Corn Chowder
A Springdell Farm recipe from Farmer Jamie! Bacon ends are a perfect item for making chowder…especially for those of you who have some corn in the freezer from your summer share.
Ingredient: Pork Hocks
Hi everyone, Jess here to talk about this magnificent hunk of meat.
The “hock”, is basically the very end of a ham shank, just above the foot but below the knee. It basically looks and tastes like a mini ham. Blood Farms in Groton, where Springdell hocks are processed, has a wonderful new smokehouse (rebuilt following the 2013 fire) in which the hocks are lovingly smoked.
Hocks generally require long stewing or braising times to bring out the flavor and tenderness, and this is what mine looked like after said braising.
Fall apart tender meat, and a soup stock fit for a king.
Braising with collards or other generally tough green (kale, mustard, chard) really makes a winning combination. Try using it when slow cooking baked beans, or making a pea soup!
Recipes Using Pork Hocks
Ham Hocks and Collard Greens
I concede that slow cooking collard greens next to a piece of meat for hours is an amazingly delicious way to enjoy them, and totally worth the time involved. A side product is a soup base for other recipes, so it’s like preparing two meals in one! Kale, Chard, or Mustard greens (or any combo therein) can easily stand in for the collards.