When I was a kid, beans and hamhocks (could be navy beans, could be lentils) were a staple on our menu. And I really loved it when it was a beans and hamhocks night. Over the years, I’ve cooked beans and ham many times, but I really never made it my own until about a year ago. Here’s my take on an American classic: White Beans And Ham.
Two things really made a huge difference here. The first is that over the years I moved from canned beans to dry beans to heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo. It turns out that these things make a difference. Canned beans, honestly, all taste the same, regardless of the type of bean. Black beans, pinto beans, white beans, pretty much all the same. The only real difference is the seasoning in the broth. Moving to dry beans and cooking them myself made a big difference. But, like most other industrially farmed food, beans on the grocery store shelf are not very flavorful and lack in variety. That is not true of Rancho Gordo’s beans!
If you just want to cook a batch of Rancho Gordo beans, take a look at Beans: A Cooking Primer.
If you want some White Beans and Ham, let’s move on to the recipe proper. You can use any white beans you like: Great White Northern, Cannellini, Navy Beans, Alubia Blanco, etc.
White Beans and Ham
Course: American, Recipe6
servings30
minutes3
hours380
kcal3
hours30
minutesMaking White Beans and Ham from scratch, like mom used to do!
Ingredients
1 lb white beans, dry – Cannellini, Alubia Blanco, White Northern, Cassoulet, Navy Beans ….. pick the ones you like best.
2 smoked ham hocks – flavor and a bit of meat, but don’t overdo it
bouquet garni – 2 bay leaves, 1 sprig each fresh thyme & rosemary, celery leaves removed from the celery stalks
1 medium onion, peeled
8 whole cloves
1 medium carrot, peeled, whole
1 tsp black peppercorns
4 slices thick cut bacon
4 garlic cloves
6 cups chicken stock
8 oz of lager beer
3 celery stalk, remove the leaves for bouquet garni, then chop
Method
- There is no need to soak the beans you are cooking with. See Beans: A Cooking Primer for more details
- Cut the top of the onion off, leaving 3/4 of the onion intact. Push the cloves firmly into the onion, tail first.
- Using a dutch oven or heavy pot, slowly cook the bacon, allowing the fat to render, and the bacon to be almost crisp. Remove the bacon, dice it up.
- Deglaze the bottom of the pot with the lager, scraping up all the brown, crunchy bits on the bottom.
- Add all the ingredients into the pot, including the clove studded onion and top of the onion. But not the chopped celery. Reserve that to the end.
- If the lager and stock aren’t enough to cover everything, add some water until the ham hocks are barely covered.
- Bring the soup to a boil for 5 minutes. Reduce to a bare simmer, just 2-4 bubbles at a time.
- Simmer for 90 minutes, ensuring that the ham hocks remain slightly covered, adding water if needed.
- At this point, remove all the ingredients other than the beans, stock, and peppercorns.
- Remove meat from the hocks, keep the bones/rind for something else, if desired. Discard the bouquet garni.
- Chop up ham, onion, carrot and add everything back to the pot.
- Continue to simmer until beans are done, about another 90 minutes. Beans are done when they still are tender, but not mushy, with a clean bite.
- About 15 minutes before the beans are done (so they will still have a firm bite and be a bit grainy), add the celery to the soup. Check for seasoning, if needed add salt and pepper.
- Serve with bread or biscuits and a green salad. That what mom used to do!
Notes
- Bouquet Garni – take the herbs specified and tie them in a bundle using cheese cloth so that the herbs are inside and can’t escape. We use this to flavor the broth but don’t have to worry about the pieces and parts of the herbs later on.
- About the beer: any non-bitter beer will work. A lager is a good choice, but a Belgian Wit, a German Weizen, English Lager, etc. Avoid hoppy beers like pilsener, IPA, Pale Ale, etc.
Nutrition Facts
6 servings per container
- Amount Per ServingCalories380
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat
12g
19%
- Saturated Fat 3g 15%
- Sodium 635mg 27%
- Total Carbohydrate
54g
18%
- Dietary Fiber 13g 52%
- Sugars 7g
- Protein 26g 52%
* The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
