ham bone soup

This Christmas I decided to put the leftover ham bone in the freezer.  I don't usually save it; I either give it away or I toss it.  For years I've been under the impression that the only thing it's good for is pea soup, and I don't like pea soup.  I made it once and gave it all to my mother-in-law.  Determined to use it for something other than pea soup, I Googled "leftover ham bone" and came up with this recipe.  I had everything on hand and it was pretty quick and easy, so I decided to make it yesterday.

This is the first meal I made for my "Eat Through the Kitchen" challenge.  It came out really good.  The flavor was great and it was easy to make.  It seemed a little greasy at first (I could see all the fat on the surface), but it didn't taste greasy.  If you want you can let the stock cool and then skim the fat.  I didn't think it was necessary.

My first surprise of this challenge was seeing how much meat I'd left on the bone when I served my ham at Christmas.  After boiling the bone to make the stock, I stripped the meat from it.  I got at least two cups of meat from it! I could have gotten more, but I didn't feel like having to pick through all the fat.  When it gets so close to the bone, there's more fat and it's harder to cut around it.

I don't think I'll be throwing away the ham bone anymore!  After the next holiday I'll just make this delicious soup.

Here's the recipe:  Leftover Hambone Soup