Ham Stock

The spiral ham is a staple at Easter and other big occasions. We always smother it with a light brown sugar garlicky citrus glaze and cook long enough for an amazing caramelized crust. This is just delicious, but the ham never goes away after – it’s a never ending chore to polish off the leftovers.

Over time we realized it is best to make a ham stock, and use it instead of chicken stock to make pea soup or a ham and pea risotto. This is a very simple recipe that creates an amazing base to a lot of recipes you would usually use chicken stock for.

Ingredients

• The ham bone from a medium to large ham with a decent amount of ham still on it
• 4 celery stocks, chopped diagonally in quarters
• 4 carrots, chopped diagonally in quarters
• 2-3 medium onions, quartered
• 2 parsnips, chopped diagonally in quarters
• 5 garlic cloves, cut in half
• 12 sprigs of dill
• 2 bay leafs
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Making It

• Throw everything in a large pot, fill with water until ham is just covered. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook for two hours. Skim off any foam during this process. Strain out the solids and refrigerate for 24 hours, then scrape off fat and use within a few days or freeze.