In the past, bacon bones were part of quite a number of economical Australian and British recipes. Today, cooks generally use bacon bones for the tasty flavor they impart to soups and scrape the meat from the bones after they have been thoroughly cooked, discarding the bones. Bacon-bone soups are simple and easy to prepare and include scotch broth, tomato and pumpkin soup, bacon and lentil soup and cabbage and ham soup.
Add 1 tbsp. olive oil to a large pan. Heat the oil on a stove.
Add the ham and sugar. Turn up the heat of the stove to high and sauté the added ingredients for 5 minutes. Stir continuously and keep frying until the ham turns golden. Remove it to paper towels with a slotted spoon.
Add the remaining olive oil to the pan. Add the onion, leek and garlic. Turn the heat to low and cook for 14 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the flour. Stir and cook for another minute. Remove the pan from heat.
Add the chicken stock, bacon bones and 6 cups of water to the mixture in the pan. Put the pan back on the stove. Cook and stir regularly until the mixture boils and thickens a little. Turn the heat down. Simmer the mixture for 30 minutes. Skim off the scrum on the surface as you cook.
Remove the bacon bones with the slotted spoon. Remove the meat from the bones with a knife and shred the meat into little pieces. Discard the bones. Add the shredded meat and the potato to the pan. Simmer the mixture for 10 minutes or until the potato softens.
Add the ham, cabbage, vinegar and pepper. Simmer the soup for another 30 minutes. Skim off the scrum on the surface as you cook.
