Adventures in ham hocks

I cook beans frequently- cheap, healthy and delicious protein.  And I cook all sorts of beans: navy, black, black eyed, purple hull, lima... you get the picture.  My favorite beans to cook, perhaps because they were the object of my first bean love, are red beans.  As in red beans in rice, as in heavenly comfort food.

I have used many pork products over the years in the flavoring of my red beans: sausage, smoked ham, bacon.  Once I tried salt pork, which to me was so gross.  It smelled like soap.  Ugh, it was not smoky tasting, it was just a smelly,  blubbery, big hunk of fat.  This bummed me out because salt pork is a pretty traditional cut of meat for beans.  It is in my "To Try Again" box in my brain, but no time too soon!

One form of the pig which has not made its red beans and rice debut is the ham hock.  Ah, the ham hock, this is noble peasant food, and poor college students are modern peasants for sure.  Wikipedia says it is the joint between the tibia/fibula and metatarsals of the foot.  Which doesn't exactly scream delicious to me, but I purchase it anyway with hesitation.

I brace myself for the worst, upon opening the package this morning, but it isn't really bad at all.  It smells smoky, tasty, like a big hunk of bacon.  Ok, I am game- let's play ham hock.

(Am starting to think store sold me just chunks of smoked ham as ham hock- hmm... )