alliberries, I usually just toss all the ingredients in my crockpot and cook it all day. If I have a leftover ham bone from a previous meal, I use that. If not, I use whatever I can find, including smoked hocks or diced leftover ham. I suppose you could even get ham especially for the soup, although I never thought of it, it's a "leftover" kind of soup for me.

Bean Soup

1 pound dry white beans, soaked overnight (or quick soaked)
1 meaty ham bone or 2 smoked ham hocks
3 quarts water
3 onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 stalks celery, with leaves, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Strain the water from the soaked beans and put beans into a big pot with 3 quarts of water and the ham bone or ham hocks. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours.

Stir the chopped vegetables into the pot and cook over low heat for another hour until the beans are nicely tender.

Remove the bones from the pot, cut off the meat into small bits and return the meat to the pot, discarding the bones.

When ready to serve, ladle into bowls. If you want thicker soup, some of the beans may be smashed as a thickener or a cup of mashed potatoes may be added along with the other vegetables.

Oh, and mine always gets served with cornbread. I don't know why, but that's how grandma always served it.

Annie

Annie, if you put everything in the crock pot for the day, how/when do you remove the scum from a ham hock? I would like to try a crock pot for this so am wondering.

I do pretty much like Annie does, but I omit the celery and sometimes add a sprig of thyme....and I do it in a Le Cruset Dutch oven.
Scum? What scum? That's just protein and will sink and make the broth couldy....and what about bean soup isn't cloudy??
Linda C

I do much as Annie does, no recipe. Mine soup includes:

* The aforementioned beans, I prefer pinto or black beans, soaked over night in the frig. Pour off the water and rinse.
* 1 large onion
* 1 bell pepper
* 1-2 bay leaves
* 1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes
* 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
* a few twists of fresh pepper
* 3-4 stalks of celery
* 1 meaty ham bone. I have also cooked some bacon and used that instead. A sliced up Kielbasa works, too.
* If I have some chicken broth or beer, I add that as well.
* Water to cover an inch or so.
* 1 teaspoon cumin is a nice addition.

I toss it all in the crockpot on low overnight or all day. If it stills needs a little more cooking time, I put it on high until the beans are tender.

alliberries,

I "poof"ed a ham and bean soup this weekend that we really loved and my husband insisted I write down what I did. I did not have a ham hock, sad to say, but I had wonderful piece of leftover baked boneless French ham and I will certainly be making this again. I've always liked a bit of tomato in my ham and bean soup, probably because my Dad taught me to put ketchup on top of it when I was a kid LOL!

Like Annie, I always make cornbread with bean soup. I make a mixture of honey butter to go with the cornbread (sweet butter/honey about 3:1) - so here it is:

1 yellow onion, diced
2 celery stalks + leaves, chopped
2 carrots, cut in half lengthwise and then chopped
2 Tbsps. olive oil
2 cups diced cooked ham (or a meaty ham bone if you're lucky)
2 Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled, diced
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes in puree
1/4 cup dry white wine (rinse tomato can with it - probably not necessary but hey, why let flavor go to waste and the cook was drinking white wine LOL!)
1 large carton (32 oz) Swanson chicken broth
2 cans canelli beans, drained and rinsed (I had a large jar of small white beans from my Dutch supermarket but the canelli beans would be the equivalent)
1/2 small head of green cabbage, finely shredded (250 grams)
1/8 teaspoon each of dried rosemary and thyme
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 dashes hot pepper sauce (I used Choulula)

Saute onions, celery and carrots in the olive oil in a heavy deep pot with a lid. When the veggies are wilted, add the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Put the lid on the pot - regulate heat so it's at a bare simmer and cook for about 4 hours.

Note: the cabbage fades into the background but gives a great texture and the hot sauce is not prominent - but good!!

seagrass

See, bean soup turns out great no matter what goes into it. Pretty fool proof. I have also tossed in other herbs such as basil, thyme, or rosemary, sun-dried tomatoes, red bell pepper, roasted red peppers, carrots, sweet chili powder, some chipotle powder and red or white leftover wine. I haven't tried cabbage but that sounds good too.

SautÂing the veggies is a nice touch and adds that lovely caramelized flavor but it isn't absolutely necessary since the flavors aren't that delicate in my soup. IMO.

I agree Bean Soup is pretty foolproof.
I grew up on Split Pea Soup but have never been able to sell it to my family. They just can't get by the green color. As a compromise I make Bean Soup. I use all the same ingredients as the Pea Soup but instead of Split Peas I use whole dried beans in whatever combination I have handy. I also add just enough tomato to color the soup. I use whatever I have on hand i.e. canned, fresh, juice, frozen. I also do not puree the Bean Soup. It's a family favorite...go figure.

Split Pea Soup

1 large ham shank
1 cup of diced ham
2 large carrots peeled
2 stalks of celery
1 medium onion
1 lb. dried split green peas, rinsed
Salt & pepper to taste

Place ham bone, vegetables and peas in a large stockpot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Skim foam. Reduce heat and cover so mixture simmers. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Simmer for 3-4 hours until peas are soft. Remove ham bone and puree mixture. Chill. Return puree, to pot, add ham, heat through and serve.

Bumblebeez, I never have any scum to skim from the bean soup. I suppose there might be some, midday, but I'm not there to see it. I just toss everything in the crockpot and let it cook, then go home, fish out the smoked hock, take off the skin and remove the bone, chop up the meat and return it to the pot. Voila! It's soup.

Annie

The second I read the title to this post I was craving a big pot of ham and beans and cornbread! lol

Isn't that the truth. All someone has to do is mention ham and bean soup, and I'm hungry.

Why can't I make decent bean soup? I think I will try the crockpot method. I've tried soaking overnight, bring to a boil and then soaking, and even not soaking at all (the worst). My beans not only don't properly soften, they get tough. I use navy beans (the same as great northern I think). Could that be part of my problem? Carmellia

Carmellia, old beans will not properly rehydrate, which is the purpose of soaking. Make sure your dry beans are reasonably fresh. Pressure cooking is another way to make sure they are fully cooked. I use a crock pot because I don't have a pressure cooker right now.

From the CA Dry Bean Board site:

Storage Tips for Dry, Uncooked Beans

Dry beans can be stored for a relatively long period of time. They can be stored satisfactorily in the unopened plastic bag in which they are sold. If the bag has been opened, transfer the beans to an air-tight glass or metal container and store in a cool, dry place--preferably not the refrigerator. Using either of these correct storage methods, quality can be maintained 6-12 months or longer. Remember, during storage, they may either take on or lose moisture, which will affect the soaking and cooking time. Beans exposed to high temperatures and humidity may be difficult to cook.

I'm not a big navy bean fan. They are ok but I prefer pintos, they cook to a tender state. Could be a regional preference, I grew up in the Southwest.

Here's what my mom does, and she makes the best bean soup. In addition to the white beans, of course, she puts in ham or a ham bone, celery, onion, finely diced carrots, potatoes (in small dices), salt and pepper. The addition of the potatoes thickens it up somewhat, and it's very hardy.

I've heard that salt to early will "toughen" the beans and make them take longer to cook..
So I don't add salt until the beans begin to get tender..I do add lots of fresh minced garlic and black pepper at the begining though...
~~~~~could be an old wives tale though~~~~~~~

A wonderful addition is lemon thyme added towards the end of cooking, probably within 30 minutes, and a bit of sherry to taste. Lemon thyme is my new favorite savory herb.

A great idea if you don't have any smoked ham or a smoked ham hock you can use wrights liquid smoke flavoring, it works great. I use wrights because it doesn't have the harsh chemicals in it that the other brands do.

Here is a link that might be useful: Smoked ham and bean soup