Ham and Cabbage
One St. Patrick's day I decided to use a meaty ham bone instead of corned beef in the traditional dish. After doing some reading, I found that the Irish traditionally used a ham bone and never used corned beef until they came to the US and couldn't get ham bones.
1 large, meaty ham bone
1 onion, quartered
1 T whole black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 garlic clove, halved
4 quarts water
4 potatoes, quartered
4 carrots, big chunks
1 small head cabbage, cut in 8 wedges
salt and peppercorns to taste
Combine ham bone, quartered onion, 1 T peppercorns, bay leaf, garlic and water in stockpot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 hours.
Remove ham bone and strain broth. Return broth to stockpot.
Add potatoes and carrots to broth, simmer for 10 minutes.
Add cabbage wedges and simmer for 15 more minutes or until vegetables are tender.
While vegetables are simmering, remove meat from ham bone, add meat back to pot when cabbage is almost done.
Season to taste.