Ham Bean Soup Food

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.

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.

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.

15 BEAN AND HAM SOUP

Steps:

• Notes before you begin: Sort through your beans carefully and discard any small stones or debris, and any damaged beans. Rinse the beans with cool water. You have two options for preparing your beans before you cook them. You can either 1) soak them overnight in cold water, or 2) cover the beans with water, bring to a boil for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat, cover the beans and let rest for 70 minutes in the hot water. Drain the beans and add them to a large stock pot. Now your beans are ready to use.
• To your stock pot and beans, add the ham bone, chopped ham, bacon bits, half the onion, half the celery, half the carrots, and enough broth to cover 2 inches over the beans. Season with Worcestershire sauce, Liquid Smoke, Dijon mustard, chili powder, bay leaves, pepper, parsley, rosemary.
• Simmer uncovered over low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 2.5 hours. Add more chicken broth as needed to keep beans covered.
• Remove the ham bone. Add diced tomatoes and chillies, vegetable juice, and remaining vegetables. Continue to simmer for 1 hour. Add more broth as needed.
• Add the seasoning packet that came with the dry beans. Add lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 30 minutes while you make cornbread, rice, or other side dishes. Remove bay leaves before serving.
• TIPS: It is important that you don't add acidic ingredients such as tomatoes or lemon juice until the end of the cooking process as noted above. Acid tends to affect cooking times and can make beans tough and chewy.
• Beans contain a natural sugar called Riffanose that is not digestible by the human body and can cause excess gas. One way to cut down on the gas is to cook a large, peeled potato with your beans for at least one hour. I cut the potato in half and add it during the first hour of cooking. Be sure to take it out and discard it. Eating it can make you sick to your stomach, as the potato absorbs a large percentage of the Riffanose.
• Finally, it's important to note that it takes several hours for the flavor of this soup to properly develop, so resist the urge to taste it until the last 30 minutes. Definitely do not add salt until the end because it tends to get saltier as the broth cooks out. If you find it to be too salty, add hot water. As with any soup or stew, the flavor is best the next day, so feel free to make ahead. This soup can be made in the crock pot, using a full 8 hours cooking time. It freezes well.

HAM BONE SOUP

Steps:

• The day before you want to make the soup. put the beans in a large bowl and add cold water to cover by several inches. Soak overnight (or at least 8 hours) in the refrigerator.
• Drain the beans and rinse. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery and leeks and season with 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook and stir until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.
• Add the tomato paste and thyme and stir to coat the vegetables. Let the tomato paste toast for 1 minute, stirring, then add the bay leaves and 12 cups of water. Add the beans and nestle the ham bone in. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until the beans are almost tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Add the escarole, another 2 cups of water and 1 teaspoon salt. Return the soup to a simmer and cook until thickened and the beans and escarole are very tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Remove the bay leaves and ham bone from the soup and let cool until you can handle the bone. Shred any useable meat left on the bone and stir back into the soup. Season with salt and pepper before serving.

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.

QUICK HAM AND BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, saute the carrots, celery and onion in butter until tender. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook for 15 minutes or until heated through. Discard bay leaf.