Rainy days on Guam call for some special indoors cooking. Today my wife, Lupe, cooked up some delicious Smoke Ham Hock and Beans.
Here is her recipe and process:
Smoked Ham Hocks and Beans
This process involves the use of a pressure cooker. This allows one to greatly cut down cooking times. But if you don’t have a pressure cooker, just cook as per the instructions in a regular pot until the ham hocks and beans are tender. Both are cooked separately.
Ingredients:
6 smoked ham hocks
2 bags of pinto beans
2 tbsp of olive oil
One medium onion
1 16 oz. can of stewed tomatoes
1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce
2-3 tbsp of chili powder
1 tbsp of granulated garlic powder
Cooking the Ham Hocks:
In a pressure cooker (we have the 8 Qt. size) place all six ham hocks inside, and fill with water. Make sure you keep the water level just below the line inside the pressure cooker.
Lock the lid in place and put on stove. Place pressure regulator on top of vent pipe in the middle of the lid.
Heat on high until the pressure regulator starts to rock gently and gives off a whistling noise. Set your timer for 6 minutes and mark the time. At the end of the time, turn off the heat completely.
Wait until the pressure drops enough for you to open the lid.
Empty ham hocks into another container and set aside.
Cooking the Beans:
Same process as the ham hocks except once both bags of bean are inside, fill with water until it covers the beans about 2 inches.
Add 2 tbsp of olive oil. This is because dry beans and peas have a tendency to froth and foam during cooking, which could cause the vent pipe to become blocked. The oil helps in this regard.
Cook on high heat. Once the pressure regulator starts to rock gently and gives off a whistling noise, time the beans for 8 minutes. Turn off the heat entirely at the 8 minute mark.
Combining the Ham Hocks with Beans:
Once the cooker has depressurized, open and pour the beans and bean liquid into another cooking pot big enough to hold everything.
Place this pot over the burner at a medium heat.
Cut up the ham hocks. They should have been scored already. Add them into the pot.
Dice up the onion and stewed tomatoes and add them into the pot. Make sure that you also add the juice from the stewed tomatoes.
Add the 2-3 tbsp of chili powder, 1 tbsp of granulated garlic powder, and tomato sauce into the pot.
Cook for approximately 10-15 minutes or until you are satisfied.
Salt to taste. I normally don’t have to salt this because the smoked ham hocks have enough salt on their own.
Serve with rice and lemon finadenne’.
We had a great time eating this.
Until next time....
