I Have a Bone to Pick

Pick clean. Remember that ham bone I could not fit in the crock pot?

It turned out our small stock pot was big enough to fit that bone. So, Thursday night, I added about five cups of water and the bone to the stock pot. To add some body, I doused it with Penzeys Barbecue of the Americas. It took about four hours with an alternating hard and medium boil, but eventually everything rendered down. The bones blanched clean, and the remaining meat and fat broke down. With only one bone, however big, and no other liquid, this stock was very thin. Though it still smelled good and tasted better.

I had found a gallon bag of frozen zucchini early, so I used that as an ice pack to cool the stock pot. Once at safe temperature, into the fridge it went. Me? I went to bed.

The next morning, I pulled it out and took a look. After skimming off the fat, about four cups of stock remained. About 4oz of ham also remained. I cubed up that meat and dropped it back into the pot. Now I had to decide what to do with it.

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