Pork Hock, Andouille Sausage, Collard Greens Soup

I wasn't really sure what I was making out of this so called it a "soup" and was all over the map with it.  I was hoping for smoked ham hock when I did my grocery order but instead received raw pork hock.  Hmmm, what to do, what to do?  So, I took out some Andouille sausage and decided to throw some greens and beans in and see what happened... I was fortunate to find some collards.  Mmmm...  Below, I'll start with the "stock" I made for the dish:

• 2 lbs pork hock
• 1 onion, peeled & quartered
• 4 cups "Better than Bouillon" low-sodium organic chicken stock
• Few sprigs of fresh thyme
• Few sprigs of fresh oregano
• 1 stem of fresh rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 stalk of celery, with leaves
• 1 carrot with tops
• 1 onion, peeled & quartered
• Fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt, to taste

I nestled all the veggies on the bottom and put the pork pieces on top.  

I tried to poke the skin but it was too tough so I quit in defeat.  I covered this and put into a 325°F oven for 4 hours.  After an hour I thought this would have been a good thing to do in my pressure cooker...so out it came and I poured the veg and stock into the Instant Pot, then I seated a rack in and put the pork on top, skin side up.  I set this to manual for 50 minutes.  It came up to pressure pretty quick as the stock was already boiling.  

After a 15 minute natural release, I vented it and removed the lid.  I strained the broth and de-fatted it.  It wasn't too fatty because the skin stayed out of the liquid. 

Then I went to try and crisp the skin on the pork.  These were fall off the bone tender.  I did this under the broiler.  I used the lower rack for this as they were snap, crackle and popping in the oven!  I took all the meat from the bones, chopped the fat cracklin' and put aside (I had to taste test these, a few times).

To compose the soup:

• 1 bunch of organic collard greens, rinsed, stems stripped & chopped into bite size pieces
• 1 smoked Andouille sausage, halved & sliced
• 1 can organic low-sodium pinto beans, rinsed
• 1 can organic low-sodium cannellini beans, rinsed
• Leftover organic roasted root vegetables (garnet yams, golden beets, radishes, onions, rutabaga, multi-color carrots)
• Crushed red chili pepper, to taste
• 1/2 tablespoon "Old Bay" seasoning
• 1/4 cup organic apple cider vinegar, to finish

I started by sautéing the Andouille and chilies with a tiny splash of EVOO in a Dutch oven until browned.  Then the stock, pork meat, beans, root veggies, S&P and greens joined the party.  

Garnet yams, golden beets, radishes, onions, rutabaga, multi-colored carrots

It was brought to a boil, covered and simmered for an hour.  Seasoning check, add the vinegar and this was ready to serve.  I garnished with the cracklin' from the pork.

First off, I think I used and washed every dish, pot and pan in the house today.  I did clean as I went so it wasn't so painful.  There was a lot of prep work when it all came down to it, but guess what? - I'm at home doing sweet F-all!!!  I know it doesn't matter where we are in the world, we've all had enough pandemic life and everything its bestowed upon us...

To me, the vinegar is a MUST in this.  It highlights all that's in it.  I have to say, this was so impressive with everything made in my kitchen today, even with my sullen mood.  I wished I had double the greens though.  I adored this meal with all heart & soul.  All flavors were comforting, rich and hit a bunch of amazing notes on the flavor scale 😋.  And I mean, *cracklin'*...when you get that crunch...OH MY...