Jan 11 2016
I have made ham and beans long enough I don’t need a recipe. With the cold and snow that came in yesterday it tasted good for supper. It was 50 Saturday and spent most of the afternoon outside and did some bacon on my Traeger. This am woke up to 7 deg. and it’s just now 11 deg. at noon.
I had vacuum sealed and froze my Christmas hambone and I had some jowl bacon to add. I usually use great northern beans but I had some Camellia pinto beans on hand so thought they would taste good.
My basic ham and bean recipe is as follows:
One hambone with some meat left on
1 pound beans, great northern, navy or pinto, soaked overnight
1 quart chicken stock or broth
2 to 3 slices bacon, diced
1 med to large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped or a teaspoon of dried flakes
3 to 4 carrots, sliced
3 to 4 celery stalks, sliced
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning, or to taste
½ teaspoon thyme
1 tablespoon lemon juice
A few drops of hot sauce, or to taste
Parsley, ¼ cup fresh or Tbs dried
Salt and pepper to taste, I use a tablespoon of salt and fresh ground pepper
Brown up the bacon and then add in the onions and cook a few minutes. Add in the celery and carrots and cook until all are getting soft. Add in the thyme and Cajun seasoning. Deglaze the pan with some of the stock. Add the hambone and the rest of the stock and water to cover. Add the salt and pepper; bring to a boil and then down to simmer for 4 to 5 hours. After 2 to 2 ½ hours remove the hambone and when cool enough pull the meat and add to the pot. Add the lemon juice and parsley. Serve with fresh chopped onion for on top and some good cornbread.
I started cooking my beans about 1:30. When I got them on I baked some cornbread in my Wapak cast iron skillet. They were out of my favorite mix, Miracle Maize sweet. They had some new Marie Calender mix so I thought I would try it. I used to make my own but the Miracle Maize is as good as I can mix up and a lot more convenient!
The daughter and I had the ham and bean and cornbread about 6:00. My wife won’t eat bean soup so she ate some other leftovers and settled down to watch the Golden Globes. I had some chopped onions and more hot sauce on mine; and butter on the cornbread. We both had seconds. I didn’t care for the cornbread; Marie makes good pies and should stick to that!
Smokin Don
