Ham Broth (and How to Cook a Smoked and Cured Picnic Ham)

One of my favourite special occasion dinners has to be the ham dinner! Not only are ham dinners oh so tasty but the are also super easy to make and coming up with interesting ways of using all of the leftovers is always fun! There are different kinds of hams and my favourite is the smoked and cured picnic ham which often comes on sale for dirt cheap and it never disappoints. You can cook a smoked and cured picnic ham a number of way and I usually go with a combination of boiling and roasting which gives you the best of both worlds. Boiling the ham first allows you to make a tasty broth while simmering it, helps cut down on the saltiness of the ham and helps keep the ham nice and moist and tender. You get the ham broth by adding your favourite broth ingredients like onions, carrots and celery along with some herbs and spices to the water while boiling the ham. After the initial boil the ham is pat dry and roasted to finish the cooking and you can opt to go for a crispy cracking or a glaze to add flavour.

How amazing is that? This one ham gives you a tasty ham dinner, optionally with crackling, leftovers, ham broth, a ham bone to be used in soups or stew!

(See below for ideas about what to use the ham broth, bone and leftovers in.)

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Easy Homemade Chicken Broth

At the base of any great soup is a broth and although store bought broth is convenient, a homemade broth will have more flavour and it is super easy to make! Chicken broth is probably going to be your work horse broth and it is a simple to make as simmering a chicken along with some vegetables, herbs and spices. Homemade chicken broth really only requires about 5 minutes of effort to throw everything into the pot and then 5 minutes to collect the meat from the chicken at the end so there is no excuse not to make your own!

One of the things that I like about making chicken broth is the reduction in waste! Instead of throwing out those celery or carrot ends, toss them into the freezer until the next time that you make broth. I always seem to have leftovers when I buy fresh herbs and instead of throwing them out I now save them for the next time that I make broth! After the broth has been made you have a chicken carcass that can be saved to make chicken stock getting even more use from your chicken!

Another great benefit of making your own chicken broth is that you control exactly what goes into it so there is no worrying about salt content or unpronounceable ingredients.

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