New England Boiled Ham Dinner
I found it odd that I have spoken about this dish in prior blog posts but never captured a photograph or blogged about the dish itself. New England Boiled Ham Dinner is traditionally served with boiled potatoes, carrots and cabbage in one pot. I now cook the vegetables separate from the ham because I want the stock to be pure for making soup as another meal.
It's still incredibly cold here and with more snow expected, I decided that New England Boiled Ham Dinner was the perfect choice for tonight's supper.
You don't need an expensive cut of ham for this dinner. I use the shank portion and make this when it goes on sale. At $1.29 per pound, the eight pound ham I purchased would easily feed 10 people. There's not many ingredients involved and the total cost for a meal like this came to $15.05, feeding 10 at $1.50 each. That includes the ham, the potatoes, carrots and cabbage.
Now that is a bargain meal. If you are a smaller family the benefit is that you get to have multiple meals from one ham. It is my plan to turn the stock into soup and my husband will get a few sandwiches out of it as well.
- bone-in shank ham - 8 lbs.
- 2-3 bay leaves
- 1 tsp. black peppercorns
- 1 tsp. whole mustard seed
- water
- Because the ham gets simmered in water and I want to make stock later on for soup, I trim the outer fatty rind off of the meat - as much as I can. You can leave it on however.
- Place the ham in a large stock pot and cover with water.
- Add in the bay leaves, peppercorns and mustard seed.
- Bring the ham up to almost a boil then knock down the heat so it simmers. Cover and let this simmer for 3-4 hours until the ham is tender. I had mine simmering for 4 hours and it was falling off the bone tender.
Lentil Soup with Ham
Split Pea Soup with Ham
Ham and Cannelini Bean Soup
You can also use the ham stock for a Cuban Black Bean Soup, or 15 Bean Soup recipes.
And yes, you can make this in a crock pot as well if your ham will fit.
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