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How to Make Ham and Beans with a Leftover Ham Bone |
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Real Food, Fresh & Flexible. Budget Friendly. Weight Watchers Friendly. Naturally Gluten Free. High Protein. Great for Meal Prep.
The Best Thing About Ham?
Whether it's the ham for Sunday dinner? or the Easter ham? or the Christmas ham?
No question, the best thing about cooking a big ham (maybe even the very purpose for cooking a big ham?) is the day-after meal, a big pot of beans that simmers glug-glug all day with the ham bone.
Call it plebeian but Ham & Beans rock my world. Show me a bowl of good beans and I’ll show you a woman happy to empty said bowl three meals a day.
I love how Ham & Beans change from one meal to the next.
- The first bowl, the beans and vegetables remain all distinct and individual. You can taste the carrots, you can see and taste the beans, but separately.
- The second bowl, the beans have turned cozy-creamy, the beans binding soft chunks of meat and carrot.
- By the third, the beans are a hammy sludge, decidedly un-pretty to look at but hearty and oh-so home-good satisfying.
You Might Wonder Be Wondering ...
Do the Beans Have to Be Soaked Ahead of Time? No. But Yes. Many cooks say no but after lots of pots of beans, I still prefer to soak the beans overnight. To my taste, the beans turn out fuller, creamier, just ... better. That said, a quick soak works well and takes only a little over an hour, here's How to Quick Soak Dried Beans.
Where Do You Buy a Ham Bone? A friendly butcher might be able to scrounge up a ham bone but really, the thing to do is do buy a bone-in ham and cook it. Lacking that? Look for ham shanks or ham hocks near the hams at the grocery store. Funny thing, a smoked turkey leg works really well too and is even meatier than ham shanks and especially ham hocks.
Can You Make Ham & Beans Ahead of Time? Absolutely. This is one of our favorite meals to make the day before serving.
Are Ham & Beans Better the Second Day? No! They're wonderful Day One but also Day Two, Day Three and so on.
Good to Know!
- Twice-Smoked Ham, our favorite way to cook a whole ham
- Ham 101: What to Know Before Buying a Ham
- Why Dried Beans Won't Cook
COMFORT FOOD: HAM & BEANS
Time to table: 24 hours
Makes about 12 cups
- 1 pound dried beans, preferably Great Northern beans or small white beans (see TIPS)
- 1 ham bone
- 1 poblano pepper, chopped very small
- 1 onion, chopped small
- Water to cover or up to 8 cups water (use less for thick beans, up to 8 cups for something akin to Ham & Bean Soup, see TIPS)
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 3 ribs celery, cut into large chunks
- 1/2 pound chopped leftover ham
- Parsley, optional but looks pretty for pictures, tee hee
SOAK THE BEANS OVERNIGHT Rinse the beans under running water in a colander and pick through to remove any small stones or deformed beans. Transfer to a large pot or Dutch oven and cover with cold water and let soak overnight. Rinse and drain.
TO "SLOW COOK" IN THE OVEN Preheat oven to 225F/105C. Combine the soaked beans, onion, ham bone, water and seasoning and bring to a boil. Cover and transfer to oven. Cook for about 3 hours. (If starting with 4 cups of water, check the beans every hour or so to see if they’re getting dry, if so, add water about a cup at a time. Do be sure to leave room for the vegetables and ham that will be added later.)
Add the carrots, celery and ham and cook for at least another 3 hours and as many as 6 hours, until the beans are fully cooked and begin to get quite creamy.
TO COOK IN A SLOW COOKER Combine all ingredients except the parsley in the slow cooker and cook for 8 - 10 hours on low or 4 – 6 hours on high.
MAKE-AHEAD TIP Cook Ham & Beans one day, then refrigerate overnight. The next day, bring the beans back to a boil, then place in a 180F/80C to safely hold as long as you need, even several hours. Here, it's so so great to spend the day in the country, then come home to a hearty hot supper that's on the table in no time flat.



HOW to QUICK-SOAK DRIED BEANS If there’s no time to soak the beans overnight, there’s an easy way to prepare the beans for cooking. Just rinse and pick through the beans, cover with cold water in a large pot, cover and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, leave the cover on and let rest for an hour. Drain before continuing.











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~ poblano peppers ~
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My grandma always made a similar meal like this. I loved it. I wanted to make it throughout the winter and just never got around to it. Looks so good!
ReplyDeleteJessica ~ Totally laughing because yes, this is 'Gramma' kind of food. She'd laugh about needing a recipe. Trust me, I got those laughs in the last while. But now that I know too, I'm passing it along ...
ReplyDeletePS You get the award for fastest comment ever!
l love to use ham bone to make soup...just learned recently. It makes very tasty soup. I add carrots, celery and tomato. My family likes it very much. Next time I'll add beans too. Yours look very delicious.
ReplyDeleteI think I buy the ham for the ham bone most of the time. Oh, the family loves to eat the ham but I'd be happy to wait for the beans I cook with the bone and a few scraps to throw in with green beans.
ReplyDeleteI never had a problem with older beans getting hard until the last batch I cooked. They were prepped the night before but took all day to become edible. My first clue should have been that they didn't all plump properly after soaking overnight. Oh well, live and learn. I think I'll take your advice from now on! :)
btw - I just ordered a Kentucky country ham to cook for Derby season. It should be interesting!
Whoa! This is an outstanding bean soup recipe. As a 56 year old I've eaten and cooked bean soup more times than I can count, and this is easily the best. The poblano pepper has an amazing effect. I substituted 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of Bell's Seasoning for the sage and thyme called for in the recipe, you might want to try that! I made mine in a crock pot, and could have saved myself some stirring by putting the beans in the bottom of the pot before adding anything else.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a superior recipe!
Doug ~ Whoa!! thanks for that! I work so hard to make sure that Kitchen Parade recipes are extra-special, even when made with homely ingredients. When someone notices, and takes the time to say, trust me, I am "thrilled"! Thank you so much.
ReplyDelete