I love soup. I especially love soup on cold winter nights. And I love that soup even more if it's simple to make and can be dumped in my Crock Pot to cook all day and await my arrival after a long day at the office.
Last night, while purchasing supplies to make a giant pot of chili, I was struck by inspiration, and decided to make a Crock Pot full of ham and beans instead. I've made this recipe before, but have always cooked it on the stove -- never in the Crock Pot. Never again will I waste my time making it on the stove -- it's now destined for the Crock Pot file.
So, without further ado, here's my recipe for the most amazing ham and beans to ever grace the face of this planet:
Ingredients:
1 pound dried Great Northern Beans
6-8 slices of bacon
half a small white onion, diced
3 cups ham, cubed (I usually just buy a ham steak and cube it up myself)
1-2 ham hocks for flavoring (can also use ham bone)
3 cans chicken broth (I was a can short, so substituted two cups of bouillon)
1 tablespoon onion powder
1.5 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste
Rinse beans and place in large stock pot, covered with 6-8 cups of water. Bring to rapid boil for two minutes; cover pan and remove. Let beans sit for 1 hour and then drain and rinse.
Chop bacon into small pieces (like the size you find in baked beans) and saute bacon and onion in large skillet. Remove bacon and saute ham in same skillet until browned. When brown, drain ham.
Combine all items in large Crock Pot. Set Crock Pot on low and let cook for approximately 8 hours.
A couple of notes: I don't add much salt until after it's cooked, as the combination of the natural salt in the bacon, ham, and broth is pretty much enough for me. You also don't HAVE to use the ham hocks or ham bone, but it adds a ton more flavor if you do.
If you're not low carbing it like me, serve with cornbread. If you are low carbing it, well, the soup's great on its own!
Enjoy! And watch for more soup recipes to come...
2 comments:
I have tried making ham and beans at least once a year since Rob and I have been married. I have failed miserably each time! I've come pretty close to scorching beans in the pot as they simmered.
I tried your recipe this weekend and succeeded! My batch turned out AWESOME! Rob and Grace loved them and we have plenty of leftovers to eat this week. Thanks for sharing!
Yay! I'm so glad to hear that you liked it! This truly is one of my favorite recipes EVER because it's so good and soooo easy to make. In consideration of snowpocalypse that's being predicted, I'm heading to the store tonight to get the stuff to make a batch tomorrow.
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