Ham and Potato Soup -- Eccentric Style!

Today, just out of curiosity, I Googled Ham and
Potato Soup, as I had recently made a cauldron of it myself. I was astonished!

EVERY recipe I saw for this wonderful soup used a roux. Why bother with a roux, when the potato itself is quite capable of providing the thickening? Add butter-based roux to ham fat, (if you make this soup as I do by boiling a whole UK cut smoked ham hock which weighs a bit over a kilo normally), and you have a recipe for a bad cholesterol overload...lol.

Here is the healthier (to be debated on a health forum at some later date) Eccentric way to make Ham and Potato Soup. WARNING: This is an all day project for very hungry
people!

Ingredients: (to feed 4-6 as a main course with leftovers for next day)

1 large smoked ham hock (3/4 to 1 and 1/3 kg in weight)

8-10 medium potatoes or 5-6 large baking potatoes

8 cloves garlic

1 head celery

5 large carrots

1 large onion (preferably a Spanish onion...VERY large)

1 tbs sage

1 tsp tarragon

1 tsp thyme

(Any other vegetables you might care to add...to taste)

Salt

Black or white pepper

Place the hock in a 8 litre stock pot and cover with cold water. Bring quickly to the boil, and skim off any scum which might rise to the surface of the water. Turn pot down to fast simmer and allow to cook for four hours, topping up water as needed. At the halfway mark, add two tablespoons of sea salt.

(As ham is salty in its own right, I hear my readers asking why add salt? Salt migrates to the area of least concentration; this is why very few salt water fish will live if one moves them to fresh water. Likewise, if you add no salt to your cooking water, the ham will be well cooked, but rather tasteless.)

Remove the ham from the pot when done and set aside to cool so it may be comfortably de-boned. If you haven't already cut up your veggies, now is the time.

Here is the eccentric secret to this dish; the order of vegetable addition to the broth provided by boiling the ham hock.

If you are using medium potatoes, 3-4 of them cut into 1-inch cubes go in first, along with four cloves of garlic, and white or black pepper to taste. 30 minutes after this, half of your onion chopped, goes in. Same with your baking tatties, only the first 2-3 go in with the garlic, onion and pepper following.

From this point on, stir the soup every ten minutes or so to prevent sticking.

About this time, you should be able to take your ham off the bone. You may cut it into neat cubes, or like I do, allow it to follow the natural divisions of the musculature and come out in irregular chunks; this is much more "rustic". It isn't time to add it back to the pot yet, however.

Three more medium potatoes or another large now, and the celery. By now, your soup should start to look like the roux-based version, but you might consider it a bit watery; don't let that fool you! Every moment that passes, it is thickening under the influence of the potato starch; so don't be afraid to cook it until its thickness pleases your eye, adding more water when necessary. 20 minutes more
and in goes the other half of the onion, the sage, tarragon and thyme.

20 minutes more, and add as much of the remaining garlic as your taste buds say is needed, along with the chopped carrots, and remaining potatoes. When the carrots have been in for 5 minutes, add the ham, and allow another 40-45 min. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

Serve in large bowls, and be prepared to serve seconds.

The wonderful thing about doing this soup in this fashion is the longer you cook it, the thicker it becomes. It grows on your guests, quickly becoming "moreish". But due to the lack of extra fat caused by allowing the spuds to be the only thickening, one need not worry about causing or aggravating any cardiovascular conditions...*grin*.