Cooking With Evilroot: Ham and Bean Soup!

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6325474]

Its been far too long since the last installation of this recurring series, so here we go!

Tonight we will be making a hearty ham and bean soup, using leftover ham and ham bones and dried beans. A great way to use up leftover meat, and the perfect meal for a rainy day. This stuff is seriously good, and freezes well!

So lets get cooking.

[Anonymous No.6325481]

>youhavemyattention.jpg

don't fuck this up. I make a real good hambone soup and I will call you out

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6325499]

Our ingredients are:

2-3lbs Leftover ham meat, cubed
2 Large leftover ham bones w. meat
1lb Dried beans (I used a 16-bean mix)
2 Stalks celery
1 Large carrot
1 Medium Yellow Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
4 Cups unsalted chicken stock
4 Cups water
Olive Oil (Or butter)
1tsp Mustard Powder
1tsp Dried thyme
1tsp White pepper
Kosher Salt

You can use the beans of your choice, in my case I used a packaged 16 bean mix. Don't have leftover ham bones? buy a smoked ham hock instead! Be sure to used UNSALTED or low sodium chicken broth, or your final product will be WAY TOO SALTY.

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6325509]

You will need to start prepping this recipe the night before in order to give your beans time to soak. I know some people use a "quick soak" method with hot water/etc but the final product just is never as good. Take the time.

Pick through your dry beans carefully and remove any rocks or other foreign objects. Do not skip this unless you like the dentist! Seriously, I always find at least 1.

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6325531]

Add to a large bowl/etc and add enough water to cover by at least 2-3 inches. And here is the part I know people are going to comment about . . . . add 2tbsp of kosher salt!

Now some say this makes beans tough but I've found the exact opposite. By making the soaking water a brine the beans absorb water more evenly and get seasoned in the process. I've found it results in creamier beans that don't burst, every time! Seriously, it just works.

I forgot to take a picture when I put them in, but here are our beans after soaking overnight. They should be considerably larger than before! Drain and rinse them very well and set aside.

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6325565]

Also forgot to mention, if you have hard water your beans will NEVER GET TENDER. Use bottled if you're in doubt.

Next up, dice your veggies and mince your garlic. Go for a fairly small dice, you don't want huge chunks here.

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6325573]

Heat a tablespoon or two of your oil over medium to medium-high heat in a large dutch oven or stock pot. I really like enameled cast iron for this for a reason we'll get to later.

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6325591]

When the oil is hot add all your vegetation along with a generous pinch of kosher salt.

What we're going for here is a sweat to remove liquid and concentrate flavors. If anything starts getting brown lower the heat! You should hear a gentle sizzling and see lots of steam rising.

Keep this up until your veggies are soft and very aromatic. Recipes always say this takes 3-4 minutes for some reason, and that is COMPLETE bullshit. It usually takes 8-10 minimum.

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6325604]

Once your sweat is finished its time for everyone to get in the pool! Add your ham bones and meat, soaked and rinsed beans, broth and water, spices, etc. This is a lot of stuff, make sure your pot is big enough (at least 5qt)

You can vary up the spices if you like. I usually add dry parsley as well but ran out. Fresh herbs are nice instead of dry too.

For a twist use cajun/creole seasoning instead of the dried spices, very tasty. Or add a splash of liquid smoke. I'll be serving this as a starter for St. Pattie's Day dinner so I'm keeping it simple.

[Anonymous No.6325613]

Bumping, go on

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6325626]

Bring to a full boil. If a ton of foam forms on the top skim it off with a slotted spoon. For a crappy electric cooktop like mine reaching a boil takes a WHILE, we're talking about a lot of volume here!

I hate and envy you bastards that have real gas burners, heh.

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6325673]

Once you reach a boil lower the heat and bring to a slow simmer, covered.

Or if you have a dutch oven like me take the easy way out and put it in the oven! I love this trick, takes all the work out of it. With my oven I find a setting of 270 is a slow simmer, yours might vary so check on it. Make SURE you are at a SLOW SIMMER, aka bubbles barely rising to the top. Higher heat will result in tragedy and sadness as well as tough meat and soggy, popped beans.

How long it needs to cook depends on the age of your beans, the phase of the moon, and the mood of the gods. Somewhere in the area of 2-3 hours usually, no way to tell but to check it regularly. I've had it take 4 once, probably because I bought the beans at the most ghetto Food Lion on the planet. You want the beans to be creamy and tender but not falling apart. Give it a stir on occasion to keep everything cooking evenly.

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6325691]

I started posting right after putting it in the oven, so probably an hour or so to go before I post pictures of the (hopefully) perfect finished product. And let me tell you, the whole place smells GOOD!

Use this time to give me comments/criticism on the recipe! Or insults as to my character and cooking technique, which generally happens anyways, heh.

[ETHANOL No.6325705]

Hey root, I remember you. Get your ass prepared for a few negative comments and nothing else. Were here watching and lurking though, please carry on.

[ETHANOL No.6325733]

>>6325705
Also, I didn't mean for that to come across as so negative, it looks good. What I mean is that people here are watching and enjoying but might not comment, but people will inevitably post a bunch of negative comments, deal with it.

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6325785]

>>6325733
Oh I know, there's always some!

Just checked on the soup and things are going coming along great! The beans are getting nice and creamy but still just a tad under, I figure another 30 minutes or so.

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6326140]

Sorry for the wait (if anybody cared).

Once your beans are done to your liking remove your soup. It should look and smell absolutely delicious. I really can't describe just how fucking amazing it smells, sweet Jesus. I burned my mouth a tad trying to eat some out of the pot, ugh.

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6326162]

Final cooking time on this batch was about 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Remove the ham bones and their attached parts carefully with tongs or a slotted spoon. It will falling apart off the bone, but try to get them intact so you're not fishing chunks out later.

Move to a cutting board/etc and remove all the good meat, discarding what little fat and connective tissue remains. DO NOT skip this step! Not only is there a surprising amount of meat on there, but its the tastiest meat in the whole pot due to the connective tissue and fat in it gelatinizing over the long cooking period. Not that the rest of the meat isn't amazing, but this stuff is the money!

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6326202]

And finally, serve and enjoy!

Serve with some nice bread to dip and soak in the broth (crusty French bread or toasted Italian would be great). This broth has an tremendously rich flavor . . . . bread dipped in it is so damned tasty you might be full before you even hit the rest. But that would be a shame because the creamy beans and rich, salty ham along with the veggies are fucking awesome.

[Anonymous No.6326212]

>>6326202

looks tasty as fug m8, nice work

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6326213]

And yes I'm using regular untoasted Italian bread because I literally could not wait another minute to eat this. Same reason the picture isn't artistic or garnished or any of that crap.

After eating enjoy your typical post awesome dinner blowjob from your girlfriend (oh who am I kidding, we're all FOREVER ALONE).

[Anonymous No.6326219]

>>6326202
Looks freaking delicious op.
These are the best threads on ck

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6326232]

>>6326212
>>6326219
Thanks, I appreciate it! Always seems weird there's 100 people on the daily BS knife thread or such and so little actual cooking.

Anyways as described this recipe will easily feed 8 hungry people as a main course. Unless you're feeding a work crew you WILL have leftovers. So lets deal with them.

[Anonymous No.6326235]

>>6326232
Keep up the good work

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6326247]

I had three people eating, me and another ate 2 BIG bowls each. Yet there's still a LOT leftover.

After everyone has eaten the remaining soup will have cooled a bit but not nearly enough (especially if you used a dutch oven like me, which holds onto heat!)

If you put this right in the refrigerator or freezer disaster awaits. Unless you LIKE everything in your fridge going rancid or your ice cream melting. So instead move the remainder to a different bowl (like perhaps the one you soaked your beans in?) and add a big ziplock bag full of ice.

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6326250]

Now portion as you like (I like 2 cups in a quart sized ziplock, that's a nice healthy serving) and refrigerate or freeze.

If you're cooking for one this will give you an awesome go-to hearty meal for weeks to come!

And that's it for this recipe. Tune in again soon for my corned beef and cabbage St. Pattie's feast!

[Anonymous No.6326253]

>>6326247
>>6326250
10/10 am making this tomorrow

[Anonymous No.6326271]

Been looking for a new soup for my sourdough bread bowls. Gonna try this week and post pics, looks tasty as shit! Thanks op.

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6326292]

>>6326271
Good God, the idea of this in a toasted bread bowl makes me hungry despite how much I've eaten already.

If you make your own bread please, PLEASE post the recipe. That's one thing I haven't really messed with yet.

[Anonymous No.6326392]

>>6326202
Looks really delicious, good work OP!

[Anonymous No.6326415]

>>6326202
Would canned beans work?

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6328964]

>>6326415
Nope, that would be a whole different recipe!

[Anonymous No.6329039]

bumping so I can make it tomorrow

[Anonymous No.6329069]

>>6329039
What's to bump? The recipe is, literally, on the bag the beans come in.

[Anonymous No.6329084]

I'm gonna make an improvised version of a soup like this now since I'm sick. I dont have any actual ham to use, just leftover ham bones.
I guess it's gonna suck.

>>6329039
Are you on an app or computer browser? theres ways of bookmarking threads, and there is always Warasu

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6329141]

>>6329069
As I recall the "recipe" on the bag called for water and like 1/4 cup of "Goya Brand Amazing Chicken Concentrate Powder" or some such abomination.

This is a recipe that took a lot of trial and error, cooking is my hobby!

>>6329084
Fear not, the bones are where the flavor is! It will still be damned tasty (I've done it before). You'll have a less "meaty" soup is all, the broth and beans will be delicious. But if you want to make it as described you can get a "ham steak" meant for pan frying at the supermarket for like $3. Its basically just a big slice off a picnic ham.

[Anonymous No.6329267]

>>6325481
IM NOT A FREAKIN' HAMBONE!

I WANT MY SHRIMP BACK!

[Anonymous No.6329358]

>>6329267
I miss him

[Anonymous No.6329675]

>>6329267
>Ghost will never do another show
>You will never hear "RADIO GRAFITIIIIIII!" again.
>There will never be another Baller Friday.

I honestly miss him. His Twitter account got suspended too.

[Anonymous No.6330688]

>>6329084
I figured out the bookmark, I can always write it down if it comes to that as well.\

>>6329069
Maybe I like this recipe m8

[Evilroot !!43u1qvov3fh No.6331984]

>>6330688
Copy and Paste?