Classic Ham Bean Soup Food

HAM AND BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Heat a Dutch oven (you can also use a thick-bottomed soup pot, but may need to stir more often to prevent burning) over medium heat for about 3 minutes or so, until it's nice and hot. Add the oil and the onions. Cook until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
• Stir in the chopped celery and carrots, and cook for an additional 5-6 minutes. Add the beans, followed by the water. Increase the heat to high.
• Add the bay leaves, dried thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, white pepper, black pepper, paprika, and chicken bouillon paste. (If you don't have chicken bouillon paste, simply use chicken stock in place of the water.) Bring to a boil.
• Stir in the ham. I like to cut it into big shards/shreds for extra texture. (Sarah likes hers cubed and orderly though. I won't judge either way!) If you're using a ham hock instead of ham, you can add it in now.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low so the soup is at a somewhat energetic simmer--it should always be at a low bubble. Cook for 4-5 hours, stirring periodically. If the soup isn't cooking down, you may want to increase the heat to medium. Every stove is different, so don't just set it and forget it. Periodically check liquid levels.
• In the last hour of cooking, add the fresh parsley, and cook for another hour. It's done when the beans and carrots are tender, and the soup is thickened. If you used a ham hock, fish out any bones, and chop up any large pieces of meat and skin (keeping the skin is optional) that don't break down during the cooking process before serving.
• This soup is quite forgiving. If it ends up too salty for your tastes, just add water, and lightly mash some of the beans to release their starchiness and re-thicken the soup. If you are reheating the soup and there is not enough liquid, just add 1-2 cups of water to bring it back to your desired consistency.

CLASSIC HAM & BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Place beans into 5- to 6-quart heavy saucepan; cover with water to 2 inches above beans. Cook over high heat until water comes to a boil. Boil 3 minutes; remove from heat. Cover; let beans soak 1 hour. Rinse; drain.
• Return beans to saucepan. Add ham shank, water, chicken broth, onion, celery, garlic and bay leaf. Cook over medium-high heat 8-10 minutes or until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover; cook 85-90 minutes or until beans are tender.
• Remove ham shanks with tongs. Cool slightly. Cut meat from bone; discard bone, fat and skin.
• Chop meat; add back to soup. Add carrots, bell pepper, salt and pepper. Cook over medium-high heat 5-6 minutes or until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cook until carrots are tender.
• Heat oven to 400°F.
• Brush both sides of baguette slices with melted butter. Place bread slices onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake 3-5 minutes or until bottoms begin to turn golden brown. Turn slices over; sprinkle with chopped parsley, if desired.
• Serve toasted bread slices with soup.

THE BEST BEAN AND HAM SOUP

Steps:

• Place the soaked beans into a large pot and fill with enough water to cover by about 1 inch. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low for 30 minutes. Drain. Add the ham bone, ham, onion, celery, carrots, tomatoes, vegetable juice, and vegetable broth. Season with Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, chili powder, bay leaves, pepper, parsley and lemon juice. Pour in enough of the chicken broth to cover the ingredients.
• Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 8 hours. Add more chicken broth as needed throughout the day. Remove the ham bone and season with salt if needed. Continue to simmer for a couple more hours. Remove bay leaves before serving.

OLD FASHIONED BEAN AND HAM SOUP

Steps:

• Put rinsed beans in pan and cover up to 2 inches past beans in large pot -- let sit overnight.
• Drain, put beans back in pot, add water and the rest of ingredients.
• Bring to boil, turn to simmer and cover.
• Simmer for at least 3 hours or until beans are soft.
• Take out bones and dice up any meat on bones and put back into pot -- You can add more ham if you want.
• Discard fat and bones.
• Season to taste with pepper and salt and parsley.

BASIC HAM AND BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Rinse the beans, sorting out any broken or discolored ones. In a large pot over high heat, bring the water to a boil. Add the salt and the beans and remove from heat. Let beans sit in the hot water for at least 60 minutes.
• After the 60 minutes of soaking, return the pot to high heat and place the ham bone, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, mustard and bay leaves in the pot. Stir well, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 60 more minutes.
• Remove ham bone and discard. Stir in the chopped ham and simmer for 30 more minutes. Season with ground white pepper to taste.

OLD FASHIONED BEAN AND HAM SOUP

Steps:

• Sort and rinse the beans and place in a 4 1/2 quart (or larger) dutch oven.
• Add 8 cups of water. Bring to boiling and reduce heat.
• Simmer, uncovered, 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour.
• Alternatively, place beans in dutch oven and cover with 8 cups of water. Cover and let soak overnight. (Do not do this step if you do steps #1-3.).
• Drain and rinse beans.
• Put the beans back in the dutch oven and add 4 cups of water and remaining ingredients (except red onion).
• Bring to a boil and reduce heat.
• Simmer, covered, for 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 hours or until the beans are tender and beginning to split.
• Check beans occasionally during cooking. Add water if necessary, or you can remove the lid the last 10 minutes of cooking if the beans are too runny.
• Remove from heat.
• Remove pork hock and cool slightly. Trim off meat and chop, return meat to the beans. Heat through.
• Add salt to taste if your pork isn't very salty.
• Top with red onion, if desired.
• To serve, place a piece of cornbread in a bowl and spoon the soup over the cornbread.