Beef Estofado with Left-over Ham Bone & Chorizo Slices

Main:  Beef Dish

When we were kids, we usually had bone-in ham  for Christmas and New Year.  Those were the days when companies you work for or clients gave you this pretty pricy food item. Every year, my pappy always reminded my mum and maids not to scrape the bone too much. He wanted the bone to still have some chunks of meat sticking to it. He would refrigerate it and a day before he goes back to work, my mum would allow him to use the kitchen.  

He would boil the ham bones in a huge pot for hours and hours. Then he would ask the maid (he was more of the commander, not the one executing the tasks) to fish out the bones then scrape the meat, even ligaments, into the yummy smelling and thick-ish stock. Diced carrots were added then macaroni noodles and chopped cabbage.  The rich flavour of the stock just got absorbed by the mac noodles and veggies.  Pure heaven. Some sort of "cleansing" diet too as compared to the rich food we have been consuming during the holiday season.

My father, Armando C. Velasquez (RIP)

When we were living in Finland, our butcher suggested that I boil the ham bone with split peas.  But my family is not that much into beans and lentils.  So I was wracking my brain because I finally dared baking our very own bone-in-ham for Christmas thus have a meaty bone I simply cannot throw away.

Finnish split pea soup with salted pork.  First tried this rich, thick soup when I brought my boys to a community park during the summer school holiday and discovered that healthy lunch was provided for free!

You can use a pressure cooker or just a regular big pot if you have somebody to man the kitchen.  For this stew, I used a slow cooker.

1. Slice thinly 1 big white onion and cook until softened. I added about a tablespoon of paprika powder and some sea salt during softening process.
2. Transferred the softened onions to the bottom of slow cooker. Laid out the ham bone then around it, fixed like a tetris game, cubes of beef chuck (a little over 2 pounds) and thick slices of chorizo.  Added a cup of water.  Cooked it on high for 4 hours.
3. Fished out the ham bone, cooled it a little (didn't take long in our freezing kitchen), then easily scraped the ham meat into the slow cooker.  Cooked another 2 hours on high because the beef chuck was not yet as tender.  At this point, I seasoned with salt and pepper because I now have a better indication of the stew's taste.
4. You can cool then store in the refrigerator.
5. When ready to serve, transfer enough stew into a regular pot. When boiling, add quartered potatoes.  Boil and simmer. As soon as the spuds are tender, you can now mix in your sliced mushroom, chopped cabbage or string beans (whatever you have on hand).  

Rich, flavourful beef stew with chunks of left-over ham & thick slices of chorizo.