Ham and Dumplings
Ham and Dumplings
When visiting my mother for her 97th birthday, she requested that I make her some ham and dumplings. My version uses 2-3 ham hocks, which can be bought in most supermarkets. However, this is a good way to use a ham bone from a leftover big meal. If you can't find ham hocks, you also cut up about 2 -3 cups of a ham steak into half-inch cubes.
Ingredients
- 1 quart water
- 1 quart chicken broth
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large white onion, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2-3 ham hocks
- dumplings
Raised Dumplings (In place of the flour, baking powder and soda, you can also use Bisquick)
- 2 cups flour
- 2 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp butter,
- 1 cup buttermilk (or use yogurt, thinned with milk to buttermilk consistency)
Instructions
- Heat a Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium heat and add the butter and olive oil. When the butter is melted, add the onion and celery and saute until the onion is translucent -- about 3 minutes. Then, add the garlic and continue to saute until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the chicken broth, the water and the pork hocks and bring to boil. Simmer and continue to cook for about 2 hours. Remove from heat and remove the ham hocks from the mixture and set aside to cool. When cool enough, remove the meat from the bones, shred and return to the soup. Discard the bones.
- Bring the soup back to a boil, add salt and pepper to taste, then drop the dumplings in golf ball-sized portions into the soup. Simmer for 15 minutes, then cover the mixture and continue to simmer for 15 minutes longer. Remove from heat, ladle into bowls and serve.
Raised Dumplings
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt in a mixing bowl. With a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse corn meal. (For Bisquick, use 1 1/2 cups Bisquick with 1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp milk)
- Make a small depression in the center and add the buttermilk. Using a wooden spoon or a pastry fork, stir the ingredients together until completely mixed. Using a ice cream scoop or other convenient large spoon, drop the dumplings into the soup.
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