Ham and white bean soup

 Wow, I made a great pot of beans yesterday! I soaked a pound of white beans over night and then put them in my crock pot with a ham bone. I cooked this for 8 hours and then added celery, carrots, and onions. I then cooked this for 8 more hours and added parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper.
I then cooked this overnight and most of the day. This is the best bean soup that I have ever had!! You should all try this recipe for a great winter soup! WONDERFUL!!!!

David O.

Sounds great!  I love white bean and ham soup on a cold day.  I have a few questions:

Are the white beans cannelini beans?  Will any white bean work?

Is a ham hock the same as a ham bone?

Do you have amounts/measurements for the aromatics/herbs & spices?

While I do enjoy this, I've never actually made it myself.  Thanks.

Not that you asked ME, but a Ham Hock comes from the very end of a Hog's hind leg, it's usually smoked and although it has a bone in it, it's different than a ham bone. A lot of gristle in it. that's why it needs to be cooked for so long.

boyardee65


 Wow, I made a great pot of beans yesterday! I soaked a pound of white beans over night and then put them in my crock pot with a ham bone. I cooked this for 8 hours and then added celery, carrots, and onions. I then cooked this for 8 more hours and added parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper.
I then cooked this overnight and most of the day. This is the best bean soup that I have ever had!! You should all try this recipe for a great winter soup! WONDERFUL!!!!

David O.

Did you use water or some type of broth or stock?

Sounds great, one of my favorites.

A family favorite...I use a can of tomato sauce, leftover ham (or a hambone if I happened to have frozen one) and Camelia small white beans.  Great on a cold day.

I always buy bone in hams for baked ham  & freeze the bone & any trimmings for bean soup.
 
I cover 3 lbs of dry great northern beans( I like them better than regular navy beans) with cold water, bring to a boil, turn off the heat & cover for 1 hour.  Then thoroughly drain & rinse the beans.  Then in my 18 quart stock pot I add the beans, ham bone & trimmings, 5-6 peeled medium onions, water to cover, pepper.  Bring to boil, skim off foam, lower heat to a bare simmer, no bubbles,do not tightly cover, I just put the lid on at an angle.  I start this right after breakfast & cook the beans all day, occasionally skimming off any foam.  The important thing is not to let the water even have even slight bubbles.  After about 3 hours I taste the broth & add salt(after 3 hours the broth will have picked up most of the salt that is in the hambone & trimmings.  After another 3 hours, I again taste the broth & add more salt as needed.  It takes at least 6-8 hours for the broth to become flavorful & silky.  I then take out the ham bone,cool & remove all bits & pieces of ham & add back to the beans.
 
I do not like to use the crock pot for bean soup, I like to be able to bring the beans to the first boil & to watch the pot carefully so the bean soup does not cook to quickly.
 

NYPIzzaNut

boyardee65


Wow, I made a great pot of beans yesterday! I soaked a pound of white beans over night and then put them in my crock pot with a ham bone. I cooked this for 8 hours and then added celery, carrots, and onions. I then cooked this for 8 more hours and added parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper.
I then cooked this overnight and most of the day. This is the best bean soup that I have ever had!! You should all try this recipe for a great winter soup! WONDERFUL!!!!

David O.

Did you use water or some type of broth or stock?

I did not use any stock, just water. The beans cooked so long with the ham bone that they took on the flavor of the ham. Ham hocks are an acceptable substitution if you don't have whole bones available. I happen to have a lot of bones from work. We serve only ham off the bone so we have a bunch laying around.  The herbs are added to your personal taste but not too soon. I add them in the last 4 hours of cooking so as not to muddle the flavors too much. I don't really measure stuff but I like to keep the carrots and celerythe same volume as the onion. 1 whole onion and 2 carrots and 3 ribs of celery.

David O.

Thanks for that measurement (1 onion=2carrots=3 celery) That's a handy thing to know.

Sounds like a sensational (and easy) recipe. One I'm sure to make with my leftover ham bone from the Christmas Ham.
Thank You.

  I have an automatic crock pot that will bring the soup up to a boil and then reduce it to a slow simmer. Makes great braised recipes!! i.e. Short ribs, Corned beef, etc...

David O.

I think if I was in Wasilla right now, a bowl of navy bean soup and some corn bread would be wondeful.  Our days are still in the mid 70's so, I'm going to wait a little bit.  I have a navy bean soup from the 50's that uses the same ingredients as yours Boyardee.  I use a crockpot the day before, to make a ham stock from either ham hocks or ham bones if I have them.
 

One dish I find at many small town cafes in this area (Kentuciana) is a "Plate" of Ham and Beans. Served with Cornbread.  I found it a bit odd at first, because the Ham and Beans (and 'juice') are what you describe, and what I have always known as Beans and Ham or whatever SOUP...served in a soup bowl. But it is common to find a dinner plate filled with the beans and ham-bits as the method of service !!
Either way they are usually really good !

I think the term, "white beans" is confusing, when you think about it, there's Navy beans, Great Northerns, and large limas(what we gew up calling butter beans).  I like them all either as a soup or over rice, but I still ask when I see them on a menu.  I did have a neighbor from Miss. who ate his beans over cornbread instead of rice.

I'm waiting for a cold front, you know one of those bleak, overcast, and cool damp days?  Perfect soup weather, and after all this, I want to make a split pea soup. 

BelleReve


I think if I was in Wasilla right now, a bowl of navy bean soup and some corn bread would be wondeful.  Our days are still in the mid 70's so, I'm going to wait a little bit.  I have a navy bean soup from the 50's that uses the same ingredients as yours Boyardee.  I use a crockpot the day before, to make a ham stock from either ham hocks or ham bones if I have them.
 

actually, if you were in wasilla having navy bean soup you'd probably have pilot bread instead of corn bread with it.. :)

My secret ingredient for bean soup is beer.  I add about a cup of beer to the water for cooking the beans.  It adds a an unidentifiable bit of extra flavor to the soup.

ok Marzit, now you have to explain what pilot bread is.