Smoked Ham Hock Hominy Stew

Sweet Jezebel's Note:

Be still, my Southern heart! I am already envisioning this with a pot of greens and a pan of piping hot No-Flour Cornbread (#173017). Recipe from Bon Appetit magazine.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 2 tablespoons corn oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon dry crushed red pepper
• 2 lbs smoked ham hocks
• 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can sliced stewed tomatoes
• 3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 (15 ounce) cans yellow hominy, drained

Directions:

1. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, cumin, thyme, bay leaf and dried red pepper and sauté 5 minutes. Add ham hocks, broth, tomatoes and garlic. Simmer until ham hocks are tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
2. Transfer ham hocks to work surface. Remove meat and cut into bite-size pieces. Discard fat and bones. Return meat to pot. Add hominy and simmer until hominy is just tender, about 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Reheat until heated through.) Ladle into bowls and serve.

Reviews

[Lori Ann D]

This was FABULOUS!! Made this for dinner last night and all day today was looking forward to having it again tonight... I think it was even better the 2nd time around! Next time I will use diced tomatoes just bkz I prefer them smaller. It was pretty salty even though I used reduced-sodium chicken broth, but I guess that's what you get with ham. Oh, I also used 1/8 t. cayenne pepper instead of the crushed red pepper (I wasn't sure what that was referring to!). The soup had a nice zing to it! I can't wait to make this one again. Thanks so much for posting this, SweetJezebel!