PUBLISHED - Ham Stew

https://www.greenheartfarm.com/recipes/ham-steak-stew/

1 - Surprisingly good! Very simple, and with pretty standard ingredients. It's amazing how just changing the meat will change the effect of the meal. I mean, this is pretty much like most basic stews, but with the pork, it's it's own thing.
2 - Still excellent. I used Herbes de Provence for the flavoring, and I fried the garlic along with the pork. I'm removing the gravy part, as it seems completely unnecessary, although the extra liquid is more than can be used in a meal, and could be a gravy ingredient for something else? Oh, and for some reason, when finishing up my meal last night, I thought chocolate cake would be a good follow up to it!

3 - No recommended changes. I will standardize the Herbes de Provence, though, and I'm curious to try it in the slow cooker with pork loin chops (of which I have way too many this year).

Serves 2-4 (2 with leftovers, 4 with a hearty side dish)

4 cups salt water (4 cups water, 3 Tbsps table salt)

1/4 cup salt 

2-3lbs fresh ham steak 
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tsps Herbes de Provence

1/2 tsp pepper or to taste
Cooking fat (olive oil, or lard, etc)
1 popcorn kernel

2 cups meat broth
1 small onion, quartered
3 large potatoes, quartered
2 large carrots, in chunks
OPTIONAL : 1 handful of green beans

1 tsp salt

1. Dilute the salt in the water to create a brine. Marinade the ham steak in the salt water in a dish where the water covers the meat. Sprinkle the chopped garlic on top. Let that sit from 1 hour to overnight.
2. Strain the meat and set the chopped garlic aside for later. 
3. Pat the meat dry and rub the herbs and pepper all over.  
4. Heat the fat in a stainless or cast iron pan, and add the popcorn kernel. When the kernel pops, remove it; this means the oil is hot enough to sear the meat.
5. Sear the meat on all sides until browned. 
6. Fry the garlic in the pan until it turns golden, turn off the heat, add the meat broth and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
7. Put the meat in the crock pot along with the, onion, potatoes, carrots, and, if using, green beans and salt. If using the green beans add last and on top of everything, away from the liquid.
8. Pour over this the garlicky broth. 
9. Cook on High temp for 4-5 hours, taste and adjust the seasoning, then cook on Low temp for 2 hours or until the onion is cooked.  
10. There will be more sauce than you need, but you can save it to make gravy for something else, or use it as a base for soups (such as split pea soup).
11. The sauce can be used as is, but if you prefer a thick sauce, remove the liquid to a saucepan and cook it down. You could also first make a roux
12. of 1 Tbsp flour, 1 Tbsp butter, cooked until just starting to brown, and then whisk in the liquid from the stew).