Ham Hock and Wild Green Gumbo

I have never made gumbo, but it sounded good so I thought I would try it.  Not sure how this one came about, I think it started with a conversation about soup and turned into a search online for what to do with ham hocks.

This recipe calls for 4 lbs of greens.  In a small town that is bordered by small towns, it’s hard to find that many greens and a variety of greens.  I found collard greens, mustard greens, arugula and spinach.  Over 30 miles (15 miles to the nearest full grocery store with a produce section) and 2 stores later, I had enough greens for the recipe.  I even found File powder at the first store, which was not located in the spices section it was located in the seafood section of the store.

The Essence, which is a blend of seasonings, at the end of the recipe I made the night before.  This blend of seasonings can be used later on other meals.  It adds a good amount of spiciness to the food.

Thought I was safe from tears from onions using a food processor, but no, I eventually had to take the lid off to scoop the onion out and here come the tears! 

Oh cool, found juicer for orange that I needed for a recipe yesterday, also found the ¼ cup measuring cup I needed 2 days ago.  Back to the current recipe…

Leftover chopped onion, celery and bell pepper, I think I see a soup in the near future.

I didn’t get fresh parsley so I ended up using dried parsley, we’ll see how that turns out.

Recipe turned out good, at least the adults liked it. 

Recipe link:

Ham Hock and Wild Green Gumbo