I made some ham n’ bean soup. I liked it more this time than last time. Here’ the recipe…

Every once in a while I get hungry for this. I make it slightly different every time. This time was pretty god, so I may replicate it. Or at least attempt to.

Ingredients:

• 2 freezer bags of leftover ham from Easter, cubed.
• 2 globs of Irish butter using a tablespoon.
• Spanish onion, diced.
• A stick of celery, chopped
• Shredded carrots, chopped even smaller
• 1 red bell pepper, cubed
• 1 tsp. of minced garlic
• 7 cans of beans. I used the Giant Eagle brand. I got butter beans, black beans, pinto beans, navy beans, kidney beans, great northern beans, & cannellini beans. I thought about garbanzo beans and black eyed peas.
• 1 can of diced potatoes.
• 1 bottle of Yuengling Traditional Lager (Sometimes I cook with Straub Amber too.)
• 12 cups water
• A tablespoon of Better Than Bullion Ham Base
• 2 tablespoons of Orrington Farms Concentrated Ham Base
• Mrs. Dash Table Blend seasoning (to taste)
• McCormick BBQ Seasoning (to taste)
• Ground Mustard (to taste)
• White Pepper (to taste)
• Salt (to taste)
• Pepper (to taste)
• garlic powder (to taste)
• onion powder (to taste)

I’m impatient so I didn’t use dried beans and soak the overnight while standing on my head facing east while reciting a mantra about not farting after eating this soup or whatever you have to do to do all that properly. Ain’t nobody got time for that. I did drain & rinse them really well. I’m sure this would be fine with ham steaks but the roasted ham from Easter was delicious.

The Method:

1. I dumped all the beans into a colander and mixed them, then rinsed them pretty good with cold water. I set that aside on a bowl for a minute.
2. I globbed the butter into the stock pot, put it on a burner, and cranked that shit up to medium-high.
3. As the butter was melting, I added the onions, and let them sautée a bit. I added some onion powder, garlic powder, and a bit of salt here.
4. I added the carrots, celery, & bell peppers, then sautéed a little more.
5. This is where I added the rest of the spices to taste. Use whatever floats your boat. I added the minced garlic last so it didn’t burn.
6. I tasted this before I did anything else and did so by setting aside a spoonful to cool while I moved on to the next step. I could have eaten just this.
7. I dumped the canned potatoes along with the water into the mix.
8. I dumped the beer into the mix.
9. I got 8 cups of water into a giant mixing cup & added the “better than bullion” and soup base stuff. I went a bit lighter than the directions specify because I always end up making the soup too salty. I also didn’t use a measuring spoon. I used regular spoons & serving spoons. What is this, baking?
10. I added all the beans, and 4 more cups of water.
11. I added the ham last as I cubed it. I think at some point I cranked the heat down to medium.
12. After adding the ham, I brought it to a boil on high, then let it boil on medium-low for 20 minutes, lid off, then pulled it off to rest.
13. If you’re worried about the taste, take a bite way too soon, scorch your tastebuds, and it won’t matter anyway.

This was pretty tasty. I would only maybe add bacon? Manybe peas or something? What would you add? Would you switch anything out? I’m sure chicken bullion or broth would be good here too.

I like to serve this with some buttered rolls, or even a sandwich. Maybe cornbread would be good too?

This is good, but not much tops ham n’ green bean n’ tater stew. I wonder if green beans would be good in this?