HAM FINALE: DOWN TO THE BARE BONES

Chicken-noodle soup with a difference--the broth is made with a ham bone as well as chicken and bits of ibérico ham garnish the soup.

 My gorgeous ibérico ham has finally come to an end. Ben sliced me a last plateful—one last mollete with tomato, olive oil and ham. Then he carved out some thicker strips and dismembered the bones. 

Diced ham for cooking.

Those strips, cut into taquitos, dice, I’ll use in cooking and for garnishes. The ham dice is terrific in omelets, with scrambled eggs, in croquettes. The ham should never be fried, like you fry bacon, or it hardens and becomes stringy. Fold in the ham at the end of cooking time. 

By the way, although the ham has darkened in the month or more since it was broached, the flesh is still juicy, as ibérico ham has a lot of fat marbling that keeps it from drying out. 

Nothing left but the pata negra, black hoof.

With some of the bones, I’m making ham stock to stash in the freezer. It’s the perfect addition to split pea soup and lentils and for soups such as picadillo, rich broth with garnishes (that recipe is below).

To make ham stock

Use 2 to 3 pounds of bones from cured ham, ibérico or serrano (preferably sawed into pieces). Place them in a large stock pot and cover with 3 to 4 quarts of water. Add a sliced onion, 2 carrots, 2 stalks of celery, 2 bay leaves and additional aromatics, as desired (pepper, cloves, thyme, etc.) Add 2 teaspoons salt. Bring the water to a boil. Keep skimming off all the foam that rises to the top. Reduce heat so the water bubbles gently. Cook the stock, covered, 90 minutes. 

Discard the bones. Raise the heat and boil the stock 10 minutes. Strain the stock through a colander. Once cool, strain the stock through a fine sieve or cheesecloth. Divide it into portions. Refrigerate or freeze.

Pictured at left are cubes of frozen ham stock, ready to add to soups. The background for the photo is a new apron (thanks Marina) that depicts bellotas, the acorns that ibérico pigs eat.

Should you be so lucky as to have the remnants of a ham, here are some ideas for how to use them.

A literary dish--Duelos y Quebrantos are what Don Quixote ate on Saturdays. Basically, eggs scrambled with ham fat, chorizo and diced ham.

A rice dish typical of the dehesa, the woodlands in western Spain where ibérico pigs are raised. Chunks of fresh ibérico pork go into the rice which is finished with a scattering of slivered ham.

Ham Croquettes

Croquetas de Jamón

Mince the ham scraps to incorporate in the thick bechamel for forming croquettes. Use some ham fat with the oil for the bechamel and infuse the milk with a piece of ham bone. The full recipe for ham croquettes is here.

In Andalusia, sopa de picadillo might be served as the first course of a special dinner or it might make an easy supper for the family, using broth leftover from the puchero pot.

Garnished Chicken Soup with Ham

Sopa de Picadillo

This Andalusian soup traditionally is made with the caldo, broth, from a puchero, a boiled dinner containing chicken, beef, ham bone and vegetables. Or, the broth can be quickly made with store-bought chicken consommé simmered 30 minutes with a chunk of ibérico or serrano ham bone. In my case, I added the frozen ham stock to a chicken carcass along with the usual aromatics. Be sure to skim the broth as it comes to a boil. After cooking, ladle the soup through a fine sieve so that it’s as clear as possible. The broth can be made in advance and refrigerated. Skim off any fat that congeals on the surface before reheating it. 

Be sure to taste the broth and add salt if necessary before cooking the noodles. Thin fideos—angel hair pasta—is the usual type of noodle cooked with this soup. But, any size vermicelli or other soup noodle can be used. Adjust cooking time as needed. Rice can be cooked in the broth instead of fideos.

Have all the additions to the soup—cooked chicken, carrots, egg and ham—at room temperature or warm before heating the broth and cooking the noodles. The additions can be added to the soup pot or tureen or dished into individual bowls.

Make a rich broth, add garnishes.

Serves 4 

6 cups chicken-ham broth

Salt, if needed

1 cup angel hair soup noodles (4 ounces)

1 tablespoon dry Sherry (optional)

5-6 ounces diced cooked chicken 

Cooked and sliced carrots 

1 hard-boiled egg, chopped

2 ounces ibérico or serrano ham, cut in dice or thin strips

1 cup croutons of fried bread

Sprigs of fresh mint

Place the broth in a pan, bring to a boil and add the noodles. Cook the noodles al dente, 3 minutes. Add the Sherry, if using. Remove the pan from the heat and divide the soup between four shallow soup bowls.

Add the chicken, carrots, egg, ham and croutons to the hot soup. Garnish each bowl with a mint sprig. Serve immediately.

The scent of fresh mint complements the savory aromas of this soup.

Eggs Scrambled with Ham

Duelos y Quebrantos

Duelos y Quebrantos is a very old La Mancha dish—what Don Quixote ate on Saturdays, you will recall. A simple dish of eggs scrambled with fatty bits of ham and, sometimes with the addition of lambs’ brains. Unconscionably delicious, though it might require increasing the cholesterol medication. 

Cook the eggs in rendered pork fat or in a combination of olive oil and fat. If you’ve got the remnants of an ibérico or serrano ham, dice some of the fat (tocino) as well as the lean. If no ham is to hand, use bacon for both fat and ham. Should you have reason to use lambs’ brains, blanch them in salted water, cut into small pieces and sauté them with the chorizo. 

With salty chorizo and ham scrambled with the eggs, salt is probably not needed. 

The following recipe, using two eggs, makes one serving or, if served as a tapa, two servings. If making a larger batch, instead of breaking the eggs right into the skillet, place them in a bowl and beat them lightly before adding to the skillet.

1 ounce chorizo

1 ounce ham fat, pancetta or bacon

1 ounce ibérico or serrano ham

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 large eggs

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt (optional)

Chopped scallions or parsley to garnish

Fried bread to accompany

Remove chorizo from its casing and dice it. Cut the fat in dice. Cut the ham in dice or thin strips.  

Break eggs right into the skillet.

Heat the oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add the diced chorizo and fat. Fry them gently, turning, until the fat is rendered and they are lightly browned, 4 minutes. 

Break the eggs into the skillet. Keep the heat on medium. Use a wooden spoon to stir the eggs, breaking up the yolks. As the eggs begin to set, fold in the ham. Remove the eggs when they reach the desired consistency, creamy-soft or completely set. Sprinkle with pepper and salt, if desired. Garnish with scallions. Serve immediately accompanied by triangles or croutons of fried bread.

Rice with Ibérico Pork and Ham

Arroz con Ibérico

This rice dish is layered with porky flavor—fresh pork, pork fat, ham stock and strips of ibérico ham. Fresh ibérico pork is widely available in Spain. Most hams and fresh ibérico meat are from cross-breed pigs that are fed pig feed. From specialty butchers, you might find fresh pork that is 100 percent ibérico de bellota—meat from all-ibérico pigs that have been finished on bellotas—acorns. 

Any of the usual cuts—lagarto, pluma, secreto, presa, solomillo—are fine for this recipe. For my version, I cut the bone away from a thick-cut loin chop and trimmed the excess fat to use for browning the meat. 

Ibérico pork is best cooked to medium-rare, still pink on the inside. The meat retains some of the fat, which keeps it juicy. It will be sufficiently cooked after the browning process. Remove the pieces of meat from the pan while the rice cooks and return them at the end of the cooking time.

Use medium-short-grained (round) rice, the same kind used for paella. Bomba is the best rice variety for this dish, which cooks with enough liquid to finish meloso, or a little soupy. 

The best liquid for cooking the rice is caldo de puchero—the strained soup made with chicken, beef and ham bone. If not available use ham stock plus chicken stock. Have the chicken stock hot when ready to add to the rice. If the ham and chicken stock are well-flavored, the rice will probably not need additional salt. 

Use a paella pan, perol (deep, two-handled frying pan), cazuela, flat-bottomed wok or skillet to cook the rice. I used a cast-iron skillet. 

Cut fresh pork in large chunks and brown them first.

Serves 2-3.

8-10 ounces boneless ibérico pork

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil

2 ounces mushrooms, sliced

1 cup chopped onions

¼ cup chopped carrot

2 tablespoons Sherry

2 cloves garlic

1/3 cup chopped green pepper

1 teaspoon pimentón de la Vera (smoked paprika)

½ cup crushed tomatoes

1 cup ham stock

½ teaspoon miso (optional)

1 cup medium-short-grained rice

3 cups hot chicken stock

Salt, as needed

Sprigs rosemary

6 asparagus stalks (optional)

1 ounce slivered ibérico ham

Browned pork and mushrooms.

Trim off excess fat from the meat. Dice the fat. Cut the meat into 1 ½-inch chunks Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan. Add diced pork fat and cook on medium heat until the fat is rendered out, 2 minutes. Add the chunks of meat and brown them slowly on all sides, 6 to 8 minutes. Skim out the meat and reserve. Add the mushrooms to the pan with 1 tablespoon more of oil. Fry the mushrooms until browned and skim them out.

Keep the heat on medium. Add the onions and carrot to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, until they begin to brown, 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of the Sherry and cook until liquid evaporates. Add remaining Sherry and cook it off. Add the garlic and green pepper and continue sautéing the mixture until peppers are softened, 3 minutes. 

Stir in the pimentón. Immediately add the tomatoes. Cook them 5 minutes until tomatoes are thickened and beginning to brown. Add the contents of the skillet to a blender with the miso, if using, and the ham stock. Blend to make a smooth puree.

Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan and add the mixture from the blender. Stir in the rice. Add the hot chicken stock, saving ½ cup to be added at the end of the cooking time. Taste the liquid and add salt if necessary. Add the fried mushrooms. Add a sprig of rosemary. Add the asparagus, if using. Stir to combine. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce heat slightly so that the rice bubbles. Cook, uncovered, 10 minutes. 

Use a wooden paddle to stir gently. Lower heat and cook the rice 5 minutes more. Add remaining ½ cup of the chicken stock. Do not stir. Place the chunks of meat in the rice. Cook 3 minutes more or until the rice is cooked al dente. 

Discard cooked rosemary. Scatter the slivers of ham on top of the rice and tent the pan with foil. Allow to set 10 minutes. Serve the rice in the same pan in which it cooked with a fresh sprig of rosemary on top. 

After browning, the ibérico pork is cooked medium-rare and still juicy. Return it to the pan after the rice is cooked.

If you're starting from scratch, here is the authentic recipe for Andalusian puchero, incorporating chicken, beef and ham bones, chickpeas and vegetables.

Chicken-Ham Soup with Vegetables (Puchero).