On the farm we often
had ham and beans. My mom would soak the beans (usually navy but sometimes
pinto) overnight and add them to a built-in soup pot insert on her stove (must have
been a precursor to a stand-alone slow cooker), along with ham hocks.
Our preference is a medley of beans and a
variety of seasoning. This basic mixture can even be made ahead and put into
jars for either your own pantry or for gift giving.
Let the beans and ham hocks simmer on the
stove. Bake some cornbread muffins, prepare a few carrot and celery sticks and
a hearty meal is just that easy!
Hearty Bean Soup
Mix . . . Gift in a Jar Ingredients
3 cups dried beans (a combination
of varieties such as red, black, navy, pinto, kidney, great northern,
cannellini or baby lima beans, etc.)
1 or 2 bay leaves
2 to 3 tablespoons dried
minced onion (or about ¼ to ½ cup fresh if not adding the onions to a mix)
2 teaspoons beef bouillon
granules (or 2 cubes) -- optional
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1½ tablespoons Italian
seasoning (or 1 tablespoon dried parsley +1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves + 1
teaspoon dried oregano leaves)
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1.
Layer the beans in
your jar. Slide a bay leaf along the side of the jar (between the beans and the
jar).
2.
Place the herbs and
spices in a small plastic bag. Close with a twisty tie, cut off the excess bag
above twisty tie. Place the spice bag on top of the beans in the jar.
3.
Once complete, cover
the jar tightly with a lid. Attach the directions for cooking.
Directions for Cooking
(Make a copy of the cooking directions below and place
them on a card or paper and attach to the jar.)
1 jar Hearty Bean Soup Mix
14 to 15 cups water – divided
use
1 (14.5 to 28 oz.) can diced
tomatoes, optional
Ham hocks or 8 oz. smoked
sausage links, sliced, or chopped ham (or omit for vegetarian beans)
Additional water as needed
1.
Remove seasoning
packet and bay leaves; set aside.
2.
Place the in a large
pan or Dutch oven and proceed with preferred preparation method outlined below
a.
Traditional Low
Soak — Soak beans 6 to 8 hours or
overnight in about 10 cups of water; drain.
b.
Quick Soak — Bring 10 cups of water to boil; add the beans and boil
2 to 3 min. Turn off heat, cover pan and let it set for 1 hour.
c.
Gas-Free Soak — (developed by the California Dry Bean Advisory Board) Place beans in 10 or more cups of boiling water; boil for 2-3 minutes, cover
and set aside overnight. By morning, 75 to 90% of the indigestible sugars will
have dissolved into the soaking water.
3.
Drain and rinse the
beans.
4.
Return beans to
cooking pot and add at least 5 cups of water, bay leaves and ham hocks, if
using.
5.
Cook for 1 hour,
stirring occasionally – beans should be almost tender at end of this cooking
time.
6.
Add tomatoes, sausage
or ham if using, and contents of seasoning packet.
 |
| This is what they look like after cooking for an hour. |
 |
| Seasoning packet and other ingredients have been added. |
7.
Cover and simmer
until flavors have melded (about another hour).
8.
Taste and adjust
seasonings as needed.
 |
| The beans are tender and the ham is falling off the bone. |
Variation: Add fresh onions and finely diced carrots in
step #6, if desired.
FYI – For years I’ve heard that you should NEVER add salt
to dry beans during the initial cooking period as it will cause the beans to
remain hard. But I just discovered some
new advice (see below).
On second thought, I don’t think I’ll take a chance! They
might turn out just like the beans we cooked for our FHA (Future Homemakers of
America) chili supper in 1968 when I was a brand new teacher at Abilene High
School and a novice cook (even the term “novice” might be stretching the
truth). We soaked the beans overnight, seasoned them and no amount of cooking
and tending would soften them. And, I can say for certain hard beans in chili
not a gourmet delight!
Epilogue: The next
year we used canned beans. Yes, people did come back even after our initial
disaster and we continued to serve soft-bean chili before the Abilene-Chapman
basketball game for years to come.
New Information About Cooking Dried Beans: You can add salt to your beans
at any time, says Lynne Bigwood of the Northarvest Bean Growers Association.
“According to research, dry beans cook faster when salt is added because salt
helps break down the cell walls,” she says. But don’t expect a miraculously
quick-cooking pot of beans, warns Dr. Barry Swanson, professor of food science
at Washington State University: Salt only affects the rate of softening by a
matter of minutes when used at the concentrations we find palatable.
Recipe without photos . . .
Hearty Bean Soup Mix . . . Gift in a Jar Ingredients
3 cups dried beans (a combination of varieties such as red, black, navy, pinto, kidney, great northern, cannellini or baby lima beans, etc.)
1 or 2 bay leaves
2 to 3 tablespoons dried minced onion (or about ¼ to ½ cup fresh if not adding the onions to a mix)
2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules (or 2 cubes) -- optional
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1½ tablespoons Italian seasoning (or 1 tablespoon dried parsley +1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves + 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves)
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1. Layer the beans in your jar. Slide a bay leaf along the side of the jar (between the beans and the jar).
2. Place the herbs and spices in a small plastic bag. Close with a twisty tie, cut off the excess bag above twisty tie. Place the spice bag on top of the beans in the jar.
3. Once complete, cover the jar tightly with a lid. Attach the directions for cooking.
Directions for Cooking
(Make a copy of the cooking directions below and place them on a card or paper and attach to the jar.)
1 jar Hearty Bean Soup Mix
14 to 15 cups water – divided use
1 (14.5 to 28 oz.) can diced tomatoes, optional
Ham hocks or 8 oz. smoked sausage links, sliced, or chopped ham (or omit for vegetarian beans)
Additional water as needed
1. Remove seasoning packet and bay leaves; set aside.
2. Place the in a large pan or Dutch oven and proceed with preferred preparation method outlined below
a. Traditional Low Soak — Soak beans 6 to 8 hours or overnight in about 10 cups of water; drain.
b. Quick Soak — Bring 10 cups of water to boil; add the beans and boil 2 to 3 min. Turn off heat, cover pan and let it set for 1 hour.
c. Gas-Free Soak — (developed by the California Dry Bean Advisory Board) Place beans in 10 or more cups of boiling water; boil for 2-3 minutes, cover and set aside overnight. By morning, 75 to 90% of the indigestible sugars will have dissolved into the soaking water.
3. Drain and rinse the beans.
4. Return beans to cooking pot and add at least 5 cups of water, bay leaves and ham hocks, if using
5. Cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally – beans should be almost tender at end of this cooking time.
6. Add tomatoes, sausage or ham if using, and contents of seasoning packet.
7. Cover and simmer until flavors have melded (about another hour).
8. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
Variation: Add fresh onions and finely diced carrots in step #6, if desired.
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