Not the most regal of dinners, lunches, or even breakfasts (why not!). But tasty.
I love a soup that combines ham and beans. Probably my favorite kind. OK, except for French Onion. Or, OK, I love Cream of Mushroom. Something from my childhood I can't get over. Or, OK, Chicken Noodle. I give. I have too many favorites.
Over the weekend, I roasted a massive bone in ham (with a pear chutney glaze). And ham dinners are one of my favorite dinners. Well, except for Asian marinated flank steak. Or roasted prime rib. And, uh, a roasted chicken. Or a turkey. Or even a baked macaroni and cheese. Or Lasagna. Again, I give. I have many favorites.
Some have asked, when they find out I love to cook "what do you like to cook?"
I cook dinner.
I don't do desserts.
I tried my hand at bread and met with some success with sourdough loaves. But I finally decided it was better if I just bought something from any of the many wonderful bakeries here in Seattle. I still aspire to make great bread, but it's not a calling. So I purchase.
Dinner, on the other hand, is what I do. And I don't hew to any particular cuisine. Well, my go to is Italian - a couple of impeccable ingredients at their seasonal best, prepared simply. Love it. But I also love, I mean LOVE, Korean. So I might make anything.
Back to the roasted ham. I boned out the bone - right? That's what you do, right? And I purposely left it "meaty." Unlike my usual almost obsessive compulsion to bone out something such that the bone is completely clean. I wanted meat on it. And into a large kettle to simmer for hours to get all the goodness out of the bone (and the trimmings I left on).
Now, to the soup. I will admit, when I embark on a new cooking adventure for posting, I probably look at over a dozen or more recipes on line. I put them all into a spreadsheet, normalize for quantity, and then think I'll make an "average" combination. In reality, I do all that computing, but by the time I've finished all the comparisons, I've already made my mind up as to how I'm going to make the dish. And I toss the spreadsheet and just record what I did.
Yes, I do learn some things, sometimes, comparing recipes. A technique. A change in the order of operation. But, at best, it might be an herb or spice or veg I didn't consider before. Like Cardamom. I don't think to use it in places where it might just make the difference. And I love Cardamom. Dorothy makes a Cardamom Ice Cream... Oh my...
But I digress.
I make the ham stock from that bone and trimmings. I taste, add more ham, taste, and season, add more ham, and eventually, I like it as a base for the soup. It has enough of it's own flavor to be good by itself. Then I strain the stock, de-fat it, and bring it back to simmer.
Later, diced ham and beans will go in, but let's talk about the beans first. You could use canned beans and be done quickly (as in, just add them, drained and rinsed, and you're almost done). Or you could use dried beans, meaning you need to cook them to tenderness which of course takes time (and yes, in the strained stock would be fine, even correct). Or you could use what I did, which is frozen fresh Cranberry beans I put up from the Farmer's Market this last summer. Like, everybody has this, right? I can hear you laughing... In this case, the beans go in the strained stock to cook for about 15-20 minutes until almost done.
No matter the bean starting point, when they are almost done, add diced ham. Bring slowly back to a simmer.
Separately, I sweat onion, celery, carrot, and garlic and prep the greens. I love Lacinato Kale. Perfect for this dish. Although other types, even Collards, are wonderful.
About cutting your greens. There's nothing worse than taking a spoonful of soup and having a 5-inch long piece of green hanging off it flinging soup drops onto your new dress shirt. I swear, new shirts have an almost magnetic quality about them for errant drops. Before cutting your greens crosswise (across the stem, which you have removed in the case of Collards and tough kale), cut lengthwise to make sure no piece is more than 1" in length. Then cut crosswise into 3/8" ribbons or so. You could go 2/8" (1/4) inch, or even 4/8 (1/2 inch). But I like the width in between.
Add the sweated veg and greens to the simmering soup pot, let it simmer about 10 minutes, taste for seasoning and correct if needed.
Only thing extra to do is either just toast some delicious bread you bought from a real bakery, or make broiled garlic bread with a dusting of Parmesan cheese - again the bread from one of those incredible local bakeries.
Now that's a wonderful dinner. Or lunch. Or, yes, breakfast.
And in that last case I like to place a poached egg in the bowl of hot soup. And, just because I am who I am, I put crumbled crisp bacon either on top of the soup and egg, or under a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. Or both. Yes. I do that. No, I'm not embarrassed.
Ham and Bean Soup
1 large meaty ham bone4 quarts of water
1 pound fresh cranberry beans
2 cups diced cooked ham
1/2 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced very fine
1 bunch Lacinato kale, chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste
Simmer the bone in the water for several hours. De-fat the stock, and taste. Add more ham scraps if it tastes weak, and simmer some more.
Strain the stock, return to cleaned pot and return to simmer. Add the beans and cook gently until they are almost done. Add the diced ham.
Meanwhile, sweat the chopped onion, carrot, celery, and garlic, and prepare (chop) the kale.
When beans are just done, add the sweated veg to the pot along with the chopped kale, and bring back to a simmer for about 10 minutes. Taste, add salt and pepper as needed.
Serve with toast, or cheesy garlic bread.
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