Wednesday, November 1

Velveeta, cuz you've gotta have goals

Okay, here's the reason for the Velveeta:

Ham & Cheese Chowder
(don't be deceived, Velveeta is not Cheese. It's "cheese food".)

1 Lg Onion, diced small
1 Tb Butter
1 ham hock (anyone else hear their uncle clearing their snotty throats when they read this word?)
5 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tsp dry parsley
2 tsp chicken or vegetablebouillon cubes
8 oz Velveeta
2 c ham, cooked & cubed
1 pint half & half
1 can Northern beans
1 can corn (don't you dare. use frozen corn)

Saute' onion in butter. Place ham hock in water to cover. Add potatoes, onion, & seasonings. Simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are cooked. Remove ham hocka nd mash potatoes into the liquid. Add cheese and simmer until melted. Add the rest. Simmer 10 more minutes, then serve. mmmmmm.

Now, I do something a little different, which gets the same results and then some. I start the day before and bake a huge ham. I serve a ham dinner, then put the rest in the fridge. The next day, I discard the solid, white fat. I save the gelatinous goo and cut the meat off the bone, saving both. Rather than cooking the potatoes with the bone, I pour the gelatinous goo into my water.
The purpose in cooking the ham hock is to get the marrow and flavor out, which is what you already have in the form of the Goo. The rest of this recipe is the same, but now you have a ham hock to use in this recipe:


Split Pea Soup

2 c dry split peas
8 c chicken broth (or 8 c water plus 6 bouillon cubes)
1 ham hock
1/2 tsp marjoram
1 bay leaf
1 c carrot, chopped
1 c celery, chopped
1 c onion, chopped

Rinse peas. Bring peas, broth, and ham hock to a boil. Reduce heat and cover, simmering for 1 hour. Stir occasionally. Remove meat from bone. Add meat (I add extra from my leftover ham stash) and rest of ingredients. Return to a boil. Cover, simmer 20 minutes or until veggies are soft. Discard the bay leaf and serve.

Now, you've got just enough ham left over for this recipe:

Nah...I'lll share it tomorrow. I'm tired.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's not cheese food, it's plastic in some sort of gel form. Blech!

:) My computer came today! Yay!

Jennifer in MS said...

Jenn,
You are so sweet to come check out my blog and leave comments! It was getting lonely over there, lol!
I had to laugh about your velveeta run!
I'll be posting my potato soup in a few days that has velveeta in it. Sounds like something you would like! :0)
Have a great night!

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