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January 07, 2006
Ham and Bean Soup
I tried my hand at bean soup in order to use up the rest of the New Year's ham. I got the basic recipe off of Allrecipes, but it's essentially the same recipe my dad has used for 30 years. He uses navy beans, though, and adds thyme and cumin.
What I didn't realize, since I don't make many soups, is that it's just like every other soup I've ever made - broth, veggies, meat together for awhile, then add other ingredients. It makes me want to make more soups!
1 lb. Great Northern beans
8 cups water
4 cups (2 cans) chicken broth or stock
4 cups water
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 or 3 carrots, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 bay leaves
1 ham bone
2 cups diced ham
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of cumin
Begin by soaking the beans. I used the quick soak method where I brought the beans and 8 cups of water to a rapid boil, boiled for 2 minutes, then covered and set off the heat for 2 hours. In my case it was more like 3 hours and then I put them in the fridge for awhile.
Drain and rinse the beans, and return them to the pot. Add chicken broth, 4 cups water, celery, carrot, onion, garlic, ham bone, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer covered for at least an hour until the veggies are tender and the meat is falling off the bone. Remove the bone and if there's any meat still on the bone, cut it up and throw it in the pot. Add chopped ham and salt and pepper to taste (the ham is pretty salty anyhow so it doesn't take much). Simmer for another 30 minutes.
If you want your soup a little thicker, like I did, mash some of the beans up against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. You could thicken it with a roux too. I also added a pinch of cumin at the end.
Serve and enjoy :)
Posted by Laura at January 7, 2006 09:40 PM