I'm especially excited because, number one, I'm not a huge fan of beans (unless they are baked or refried) and number two, I have never, I mean never, ever, cooked with beans.
Like in my entire life.
But we're tight on money and beans are cheap. And high in protein and a bunch of other junk. Blah, blah, blah. They're beans. A gross, but necessary, evil in these dark(ish) days.
So I went to my local farmer's market (woohoo!) and bough a few pounds of mixed beans. I have no idea what kinds of beans are that bag. I loath beans, remember. Some are red (kidney?), some are small and white ( err...beans??) and the others are definitely pintos (Hey these are named after a horse. Of course I know what they're called).
Anyway, I love soup. And figure it's pretty hard to make a bad soup. Why not try and ruin one with beans? Ugh. Now the only thing I know about cooking beans is that ham is supposed to make them more palatable. I don't really like ham either. But if it makes the beans 'better,' well, ok then. So I also bought a package of smoked ham shanks for $3.92.
Beans: check
Ham: check
Just enough desperation to eat both of them: check
This morning I started the soup.
I grudgingly put in on the stove at 10am. By noon I was hovering over the pot, salivating. Oh. My. GOSH! If this stuff tastes half as good as it smells...
It didn't. It was BETTER! Now I'm sitting in the other room diligently waiting for my husband to get home so we can eat it. And I am struggling.
Over ham and bean soup? Really?!
The moral of my story is this: Thin times will stretch you. But sometimes you stumble on to something you will love.
Edit: Ernie's now home and we just finished dinner. It was amazing! Except for one thing. A bean, no matter what you do to it, is still a bean. And while the flavor was out of this world, the beans still felt like - beans, oddly enough. It's a texture thing. But let's just say that didn't keep me from coming back for more...
Here's the recipe:
Beans (I have no idea how much. I just put them in my pan by the handful. Enough to cover the bottom of my large (but not huge) pan)
1 Ham Shank
9 cups Chicken Broth (or nine cups of water with 3Tbs of chicken bullion.)
2 Bay Leaves.
Note: Do NOT add salt!
To start, pick over your dry beans. Pull out and tiny rocks, bits of stalk, and bad or split beans. Then rinse them very well. It doesn't hurt to wash them a few times. Drain all the water off of them and place the pan on the stove.
Pour 9 cups of chicken broth over your beans and turn the stove on high. Drop the whole ham shank in the pot and add the 2 bay leaves.
Bring it to a boil. Then turn it down to LOW and cover. Let it cook all day, at least 8 hours. About an hour or so before you eat, pull the ham shank out and let it cool for a few minutes. When it's cool enough to handle, pick the meat off the bone and put it back in the pan. I also tossed the bone back in the pan and just threw away the extra fat.
That's all. No really. That's all. No other seasoning or ingredients. Not even salt, as the ham will provide all the salt you need.
My beans were fresh, meaning from the last year, so they didn't need to soak over night. However, most beans that you get from a grocery store are 5 years or older. There's nothing wrong with this per say. It's just means they really need to rehydrate. But you'll have to find someone who know how to deal with all that shananigans.
I'm no bean chef, remember?
No comments:
Post a Comment