Country Ham Bean Soup With Smoked Sausage Food

SMOKY WHITE BEAN AND HAM SOUP

Steps:

• Quick-soak the beans: Place the beans in a medium pot and cover with 2 to 3 inches of water. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for 1 minute. Remove the pot from the heat and let sit for 1 hour. Drain in a colander.
• Place the drained beans into a 5.5-quart Dutch oven or large pot. Add the water, chicken stock, bay leaves, quartered onion, and ham hocks. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover and simmer over low heat until the beans are just tender, about 1 hour (depending on the size of the beans, it could take a bit longer).
• Once the beans are tender, pull out the bay leaves, onion remnants, and ham hocks. Discard the bay leaves and onions, but set the ham hocks aside to cool.
• Add the minced onion, carrots, celery, tomatoes, garlic, thyme, and 2 teaspoons of salt to the pot. Increase the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes. While the soup is cooking, and when the ham hocks are cool enough to handle, pull the meat from the hocks, discard any bone, fat, and tough sinew, and chop the meat finely.
• Use a ladle to transfer about 2 cups of the beans and vegetables, along with a bit of broth, to a blender or food processor. (If using a blender, be sure to remove the center knob on the lid and cover with a dishtowel to avoid splatters.) Purée until smooth, and then stir the mixture back into the soup. Add the meat and kale to the soup and simmer over medium-low heat for 5 minutes more. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt, if necessary (I usually add about 1 teaspoon more; beans require a lot of salt to bring out their flavor). At this point, you can serve the soup or refrigerate it for up to 3 days. (It will thicken up in the fridge; thin it with a bit of water, if necessary.)
• When you're ready to eat, garnish each bowl with a drizzle with olive oil (if using) and a heap of grated cheese.
• Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The soup can be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost the soup in the refrigerator for 12 hours and then reheat it on the stovetop over medium heat until hot. through.

HAM AND WHITE BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Cook and stir onion in hot oil until tender, about 5 minutes.
• Season onion with Italian seasoning. Continue to cook and stir for 1 more minute.
• Stir chicken broth, white beans, tomatoes, cabbage, ham, and celery into the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low; simmer until celery and cabbage are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

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.

SMOKED SAUSAGE AND WHITE BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Soak beans in cold water to cover, overnight (8 to12 hours). Drain beans and rinse well.
• In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and saute for 5 to 6 minutes, or until browned. Remove the sausage from the skillet and reserve. Add the onions and cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, an additional minute.
• Add the browned sausage back to the stockpot. Stir in the beans, bay leaves, and thyme. Add the chicken stock, water, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Bring soup to a boil; reduce heat to a simmer and cook, partially covered for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Skim off any fat, as necessary, if desired. (The cook time may vary depending on the beans, but they should be tender and falling apart when finished.)
• Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper, if needed. Using a potato masher or the flat side of a spoon, gently mash the beans against the bottom and sides of the stockpot, leaving some of the beans whole and some mashed. Continue to simmer the soup for 30 minutes, uncovered, or until desired consistency.
• Ladle the soup into bowls. Serve hot, with crusty bread slices.

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.

SAUSAGE BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, cook and crumble sausage with onion and garlic over medium heat until no longer pink, 5-7 minutes; drain., Stir in beans, tomatoes, basil and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Serve with cheese.

HAM AND BEAN SOUP II

Steps:

• In a large stock pot, add water, ham bone and pre-soaked beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until beans are close to soft.
• Remove bone and cut off remaining meat. Remove 1/3 of beans and mash with potato masher or food processor.
• Return ham and beans back to stock pot and add onion, carrots, celery, garlic powder, pepper and paprika. If you are using dripping from a previously cooked ham add those now. Simmer until vegetables are tender and serve.