I've made enough chicken stock to know that a cook should never through away a bone or carcass before cooking it down into stock. And ham bone is no exception. Ham bone and bean soup is incredibly easy to make. You just need a solid afternoon (5-6 hours) to boil the bone.
Ham Bone and Bean Soup
Ingredients
1 ham bone
2-3 cups of ham, cubed
3-4 cups of white or pinto beans (or a combination)
1 onion, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
4-5 carrots, chopped
4-5 celery ribs, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
In a large stock pot, cover the ham bone with water and simmer for at least 2-3 hours. I used dry beans, so I added some prep time (boil, then soak over night, rinse, boil again for 30 minutes). Add the beans, ham, onions, garlic, carrots and celery to the stock. Let simmer for at least an hour. Salt and pepper to taste.
Yes, it really is that easy. And so good. Benny now requests this soup regularly. If I could find more ham bones, I'd certainly make it more often.
2 comments:
At first, I was a little grossed out when I read your post. My parents would make us eat navy bean soup as a kid growing up and it was awful. Quite literally just a bag of navy beans and a ham bone. I once poured a bunch of salt in the pot because I didn't want to eat it. I still shudder thinking about it :/
That being said, you're recipe actually looks good! I've been having a lot of cravings for meat lately, so maybe if they keep up (and I happen across a ham bone) I'll have to try it :)
Ha! I actually thought about throwing in a disclaimer for vegetarians. I remember my mom making ham and bean soup like what you described. This is definitely better! And, if we had more fresh veggies around, we'd throw more into this soup - along with fresh herbs. Sadly, everything is covered in snow right now.
I ended up eating meat while pregnant (and then never stopped, obviously). I had the biggest cravings for hamburgers. And I really don't like hamburgers.
Now I regularly use bones. Weird!
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