Old Fashioned Time and Labor Intensive Huge Pot of Ham and Beans [I Like To Share Recipes]
Why? Because the grocery delivery service sent over a 13.62 lb bone in ham...and I ordered 2 hams to try to get even one...(out of stock items and substitutes are a misery that way). And my friend brought over a 2 lb bag of dried white navy beans AND a 2 lb bag of dried yellow peas. 😮.
You need a 12 quart stock pot to make this. You also need a VERY large mixing bowl for soaking the beans.
2 lbs dried white navy beans, soaked in water for at least 24 hours, drained, and rinsed.
1 extremely large fully cooked smoked ham bone with lots of meat still on, most of fat removed.
4 cups ham meat, fat removed, diced in large chunks 1" or more. Reserve this meat, and add it in the last 30 minutes of cooking. You do this because the meat from the ham bone will become almost flavorless at the end of it's cooking time.
4 large onions, peeled, top and bottom slice away. (These are in there for flavor, not to eat). Remove and discard after cooking. Why? Because beans make you fart...but ONIONS and beans make you explode! 🤭.
1 lb. carrots, peeled, and diced about 1/2" or less.
4 large cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed. (Not elephant garlic. From a small garlic head.) I like to keep these in after cooking, but they are in there primarily for flavor.
1 teaspoon salt
1 tsp ground pepper
4 bay leaves, to be removed after cooking.
1 tsp dried thyme or summer savory if you have it.
1 tsp McCormick's Cajun seasoning.
Water.
To the stockpot, add the ham bone, (plenty of meat still on and fat removed as far as possible), the drained and rinsed beans, the carrots, the four onions, garlic, salt, pepper, bay leaves, thyme, and Cajun seasoning.
Fill up the bowl in which you soaked the beans with water, (no chlorine, please), and add that to the pot. Gauging your water, add additional water until you have water to within 3" of the top rim of the pot. If you have one of those handy gadgets that prevents the pot from boiling over, lay it across the top of the pot and turn heat to high to bring all to a boil. This takes about 45 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium or medium low. Cook this pot for about 4 hours or more, until the liquid is reduced by half. If you happen to drift by during the cooking process, give it a stir just to make sure it isn't sticking on the bottom. It shouldn't be, because there is so much water.
After liquid is reduced, turn heat to warm, and use a straining ladle to remove the onions, the bones and meat from the beans. If you can find the bay leaves, discard them. Discard the onions. Place the meat and bones on a cutting board with a draining groove and allow them to sit there for at least 20 minutes to cool, then discard the bones themselves and any additional fat you can find. Reserve the meat and dice it into large chunks. Return the meat from the bone to the pot.
Then add the additional 4 cups of reserved ham to the pot. Return to the boil, then reduce heat to medium low and cook for an additional 30 minutes to add even more ham flavor.
The consistency of the ham and beans should be that of a thick stew when you are done. The flavor of this mixture is VERY nice. It is subtle but delicious. A real comfort food.
Cool in storage containers for about an hour, then cover tightly and refrigerate. Skim the cold fat off the edges of the containers of cold ham and beans and discard before reheating and before bagging for freezer storage.
Makes almost 2 gallons of ham and beans, which, when cooled, can be bagged up in Ziploc freezer bags and frozen flat on a baking sheet.
You need a 12 quart stock pot to make this. You also need a VERY large mixing bowl for soaking the beans.
2 lbs dried white navy beans, soaked in water for at least 24 hours, drained, and rinsed.
1 extremely large fully cooked smoked ham bone with lots of meat still on, most of fat removed.
4 cups ham meat, fat removed, diced in large chunks 1" or more. Reserve this meat, and add it in the last 30 minutes of cooking. You do this because the meat from the ham bone will become almost flavorless at the end of it's cooking time.
4 large onions, peeled, top and bottom slice away. (These are in there for flavor, not to eat). Remove and discard after cooking. Why? Because beans make you fart...but ONIONS and beans make you explode! 🤭.
1 lb. carrots, peeled, and diced about 1/2" or less.
4 large cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed. (Not elephant garlic. From a small garlic head.) I like to keep these in after cooking, but they are in there primarily for flavor.
1 teaspoon salt
1 tsp ground pepper
4 bay leaves, to be removed after cooking.
1 tsp dried thyme or summer savory if you have it.
1 tsp McCormick's Cajun seasoning.
Water.
To the stockpot, add the ham bone, (plenty of meat still on and fat removed as far as possible), the drained and rinsed beans, the carrots, the four onions, garlic, salt, pepper, bay leaves, thyme, and Cajun seasoning.
Fill up the bowl in which you soaked the beans with water, (no chlorine, please), and add that to the pot. Gauging your water, add additional water until you have water to within 3" of the top rim of the pot. If you have one of those handy gadgets that prevents the pot from boiling over, lay it across the top of the pot and turn heat to high to bring all to a boil. This takes about 45 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium or medium low. Cook this pot for about 4 hours or more, until the liquid is reduced by half. If you happen to drift by during the cooking process, give it a stir just to make sure it isn't sticking on the bottom. It shouldn't be, because there is so much water.
After liquid is reduced, turn heat to warm, and use a straining ladle to remove the onions, the bones and meat from the beans. If you can find the bay leaves, discard them. Discard the onions. Place the meat and bones on a cutting board with a draining groove and allow them to sit there for at least 20 minutes to cool, then discard the bones themselves and any additional fat you can find. Reserve the meat and dice it into large chunks. Return the meat from the bone to the pot.
Then add the additional 4 cups of reserved ham to the pot. Return to the boil, then reduce heat to medium low and cook for an additional 30 minutes to add even more ham flavor.
The consistency of the ham and beans should be that of a thick stew when you are done. The flavor of this mixture is VERY nice. It is subtle but delicious. A real comfort food.
Cool in storage containers for about an hour, then cover tightly and refrigerate. Skim the cold fat off the edges of the containers of cold ham and beans and discard before reheating and before bagging for freezer storage.
Makes almost 2 gallons of ham and beans, which, when cooled, can be bagged up in Ziploc freezer bags and frozen flat on a baking sheet.
