OK folks, I cooked a pot of beans and ham yesterday but it turned out too bland. Here’s what I did:

Bone with lots of attached ham from a spiral cut ham, white beans (previously soaked for 12 hours) and chicken stock in the crock pot for 12 hours.

What did I leave out?

Seasoning my friend seasoning.

When I cook a pot of beans I like to put several meats in. The spiral honey baked ham bone for sure, smoked ham hocks. bacon, ground beef, smoked pork/venison sausage. any or all of those.
a big sweet yellow onion
salt
onion powder
a few chopped jalapenos to taste
a healthy dash of Tony C's creole seasoning mix
table spoon yellow mustard
table spoon ketchup.

If you can't taste that I suggest you seek help.

Note: you MUST soak the beans for at least 8 hours. If you don't soak 'em first you can cook 'em till the cows come home and they will never tender-up.
SOAK DEM BEANS.

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Real men love cats!

Ah yes!!

I usually use smoked ham hocks. Seems like the spiral cut ham and bone I used wasn’t sufficiently flavored to stand on its own!!

Add copious amounts of Franks Hot Sauce

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paws for friendship

1. You can cook the beans w/o soaking. Bring to a hard boil for about 15-30 minutes; turn them off and let them sit for a couple of hours.
2. Discard water (unless making re-fried beans), rinse and add liquid (water, stock, ??). Sauté an onion & some celery (both chopped) in a little olive oil or bacon grease. Add to beans. Season with seasoned salt/blend/whatever you like. Serve with a splash of vinegar (optional)
3. I don't use catsup with white beans==I do with pintos. Jalapenos if re-fried beans==Ortega chilis if for lite-weights! If re-fried, a 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce and some grated cheese melted all together.
4. If red or pintos, a drip of Wright's Liquid Smoke.
5. Cornbread or tortillas, of course! A good warm loaf of extra sour sourdough will suffice in a pinch, especially with some herbed butter!

I always put in some Louisiana hot sauce, and about a half teaspoon of instant coffee-preferably Cafe Bustello, along with the other basics-bay leaf, etc.

salt and pepper...and maybe a little onion

KISS
No chicken stock!
It’s time for black pepper, garlic and onion.
The ham usually has plenty of salt.
Cook long and slow.
Hot sauce? You bet!
But I put it on when I eat it!

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

Use Morten's Nature Seasons . it has salt, pepper, onion, garlic, celery and no MSG. I use it on all sorts of food including beans. Especially good to sprinkle on rainbow trout with some lemon and butter.

Chopped onion, pepper, celery salt and bay leaf.

I'm not a fan of hot sauce in something like this.
Sometimes I'll add a little brown sugar or honey.

I forgot==I use hot sauce in Everything! I don't use Tabasco any more==now I use Texas Pete's most of the time as a flavor enhancer!

One pound of cured country ham for every pound of beans. Larry

Best seasoning suggestion so far.

I wouldn't use hot sauce either, but add 2 to 3 bird's eye chili peppers instead.

Do you put that BLEEP on everything??

Lots of good suggestions here. In a word - Salt. Beans, like potatoes, take a lot of salt. “Seasonings” can come from any end of the globe based on what your flavor preferences might be. One thing no one has mentioned yet are fresh herbs. I could see fresh thyme working well with that. Introduction of wine into the cooking liquid is yet another direction to consider. Different herbs and different wines will pair well with different meats and beans.

It could be as simple as using too much liquid. That will dilute the taste in a minute.

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Why duck?? It's a 9mm!

Let me think......yep

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paws for friendship

Need some green peppers, jalapeños, and onions cooked up with it. Add salt and pepper to taste. And some fresh garlic. Once it’s cooked add some cornbread, raw onions, and hot chow chow.... I think I know what’s for dinner tomorrow. Any kind of hambone will work, I’ve used anything’s JT from salted ham hocks to spiral cut ham. Enjoy and add some baking soda to the beans while they soak or boil for an hour, your wife will thank you.

The only thing I can think of to add to the above recommendations is cook them long and slow,the longer the better. Lots of biscuits or cornbread.

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Hue 68 noli me tangere

I’m starting a new batch tomorrow evening folks.

I’ll use ham hocks and a combination of your suggestions depending on what’s on hand. I have most of the suggested ingredients except bell peppers (I don’t like them).

Thanks everyone.

I’ll report back!!

Your recipe is "Italian deficient." Next time get a Musetto (all the parts of a pig that ain't pork chops) and lentils. Some folks cheat and cook it up in store bought pea soup but you best substitute your own, seasoned to taste. Joe

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Behavior Creates Destiny

Needs more voltage! (Thank you Tool Guy) Anaheim peppers or jalapenos if you are braver. I am very, very brave

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Some collect art; I shoot it!

Garlic and onion powder not salt .. add a little liquid smoke and salt and pepper to taste ..

I made thick bean soup last Friday. However, my security clearance is not high enough for me to have read a recipe. I thought of it as clean out the refrigerator soup. When I was done the only perishables left in the frig were 2 oranges and a little milk. For ham I used up the rest of a family pack of boneless pork chops. I put in lots of chopped onions and, because it was time to use them, lots of chopped carrots. While I shook 6 to 8 spices over the kettle the only ones I recall for sure were thyme, rosemary, basil, dill weed and chili powder. I soaked the beans overnight and through the day before boiling them a couple hours with the ham and onions. Things like carrots and potatoes went in near the end to keep them from turning to mush. It tasted great! You guys are over thinking soup.

Everglades Seasoning. Aka Monkey Dust
Everglades Seasoning: Tasting is Believing – Everglades Foods, Inc.

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Reg. Magnum wants/Rossi wallet

Jindungo / Piripiri
Steve W

Years ago, when I was still "playing cowboy," the ranch cook, Andre Culbertson, had the absolute best recipe for ham hocks and beans. In my mind, still to this day, you can't beat Andre's recipe.

Of course, it probably didn't hurt that we'd been in the saddle since 5:30 or six in the morning and by the time we made it back to headquarters, unsaddled the horses, and turned them out, it was close to two o'clock in the afternoon.

This recipe, served along with a couple of thick slabs of hot cornbread, is enough to make you love your mother-in-law.

When the crew got wind that Andre was serving up a pot of those famous ham hocks and beans, we sure as heck didn't dawdle. Great stuff.

Anyway, one afternoon, when most of the other guys were snoozing in the shade of the big trees that surrounded the porch of the ranch house, I slipped into the kitchen and persuaded Andre to share the magic recipe.

Of course, there are no "exact measurements," even though I tried to pry some out. There just aren't any.

Here it is:

- Soak 2 cups pinto beans overnight, drain.
- Cook on low, put in enough water to cover and just a bit more.
- Add chopped onions and 3 stalks of chopped celery including leaves.
- Add ham hocks
- Add large can of stewed tomatoes.
- Couple of shakes of garlic powder.
- Simmer at least for 5 hours uncovered.
- Last 2 or 3 hours, add about a tablespoon of brown sugar. (As Andre emphasized, "For flavor...not sweetness!")

Andre would start a large pot of beans to simmer on the big Wolf range right after the crew headed out after breakfast, so it had a chance to cook for at least five or six hours...or maybe even longer. When Andre would hear the crew riding in, a couple of big pans of cornbread were slipped into the oven. By the time the horses were taken care of, it was time to eat.

I'd better quit now because I'm starting to salivate all over the keyboard.

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Pack light and cinch tight.

Ketchup and mustard, cook for hours. Trust me lol. I grill my ham first too. If you have pressure cooker, it speeds up the coo king, and grilled ham gets really tender. Mmm beans

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Yep! That's how we call it here.

Heres mine;
@ 1 1/2 lb Smoked ham, cubed about 1/2" squares
1 lb great northern beans
6-8 strips of thick bacon
1 large onion
salt/pepper/garlic/onion powder to taste

soak beans after picking and get'em ready
fry bacon over low heat till done (but not crispy)
set bacon aside and chop onion coarsely. Saute in bacon grease until translucent.
pot the beans in a dutch oven, with about 2" of water covering them. Add onions, bacon grease, bacon, ham and spices and bring to a boil stirring frequently. Reduce heat and simmer 2 hours, adding water as needed.

Sweet corn muffins with chopped green chilis in them make this a meal to remember.

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James L. "Jim" Rhiner

Couple of Bay leafs for one. Receipe for beans is pretty simple. Cup of onions, half cup od bell pepper half cup of celery. Some garlic and couple of bay leaves. Salt & pepper to taste and a ham hock. Then cook them long and slow.This is for one pound of red beans. "Seasoning" means the holy trinity chopped onions bell peppers and celery. While some saute the seasonings first it really isn't necessary. Ditto the chicken stock. Problem with rookies is that they try to get too complicated thinking that anything this good MUST be complicated but it isn't . the receipe above is mine and is a family secret. It can also be found on the back of any package of Camelia Red beans
for Red beans you must NOT forget the bay leaves!

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Forum consigliere

Ham & Beans is like Turtle Soup, by the time people are done
with it, it's just a base for whatever spices and off the wall stuff
they dump in it. That's OK, people like different things. When I
make Ham&Bean soup, that's what I want not vegetable soup.
I cook the beans slow on low heat adding water as needed. I
also like a lot of ham in it. I do trim all the fat I can off it. No
salt is needed, the ham has plenty in it. ( I have also found that
the spiral cut varieties don't have much flavor) when it's done
3 or 4 hrs, spoon it on slab of corn bread and dust with black
pepper. This style is thick enough to eat off a plate with fork.

You left out salt, pepper, crushed red pepper & bay leaves.

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I'm 67. I don't do timeouts.

Fixed it for you.

If you like salt water, get Franks. That so-called "flavor" you get with franks is nothing more than sodium. It has EIGHT TIMES as much salt content as Tabasco per teaspoon. And Tabasco is much hotter so you don't have to use near as much to begin with. It's just the better more versatile sauce and excels in recipes.

Just about what every one has suggested...except.....I put a heaping table spoon of Baking Soda in the pot ...Can't taste it, and it cuts down on the expelled gas after eating.

Your friends and family will like you for it.


WuzzFuzz

Cull **** outta beans (IE: no rocks, no brown beans). Before going to bed, put a pound bag of
N. K. Hurst Great Northern Beans into a crockpot, add water to cover, add salt and pepper.

Turn crockpot on low at 0600.

12:00 add 1 cup finely diced onions, ham bone or 1/2-3/4 lb of finely chopped ham.

17:00: Add salt and pepper to taste. Some have been know to add a can of stewed tomatoes.
Turn on oven to 400 F. Prepare Jiffy Mix cornbread into a greased pan.

1730: Put cornbread into oven

18:00 Remove and butter corn bread, serve beans and eat hardy!

18:00 Prepare for the after effects of beans! Mongo lives!

Why in the world would you want to that?????? Helps keep the skeeters away the next morning in the duck blind

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Forum consigliere

Adding water as you cook can help avoid having too much, but be sure to pre-heat it. Adding cold water to beans while they cook will shock them, & start the cooking process all over.
This tip helped me cook better beans.

Well...you see, this time of the year the windows to the house are still closed. and my dog won't sit on my lap for a couple of days if I don't put some in with the beans.


WuzzFuzz

Made this batch last night and Rhino was right.
Only change I made was a moment or two before the onions were done I threw a nice scoop of chopped garlic from a jar into the fry pan and skipped the garlic and onion powder.
After simmering for an hour I put about a rounded teaspoon of kosher salt in the pot then a little later a heaping spoonful of brown sugar.
Next batch I'll add just a bit of heat and if I'd room in the freezer I would have saved some of the broth. For what exactly I'm not sure but it sure was tasty.

I'll try the mods next time.

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James L. "Jim" Rhiner

HUH? Of course you can taste it, it's a SALT! aka SODIUM

NaHCO3

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Still Running Against the Wind

I was raised on Great Northern White Beans.
1 lb. beans, soaked over night.
1 onion. large yellow chopped
1 table spoon garlic finely minced.
2 bay leaves.
3 celery stocks chopped.
1 bottle of white wine.
2 smoked ham hocks.

bring to a boil, boil for 45 mins. turn to low simmer until beans are soft. remove hocks remove bones and gristle and fat.

Serve with Corn bread, sour dough biscuits

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Carpriver.

Not a wine fan.
Had a couple Yuengling's while the bean simmered...

Am a wine fan!
But not in Beans!

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

Use the most robust chicken stock you can get your hands on. Bone broth if you can find it. Forget the powdered or cubed junk it's just salt and chemicals.
Aromatic vegetables will improve your cooking broth. Put a chopped onion, some thinly sliced carrots, coarse chopped celery, especially the tops with the leaves in your cooking pan with 2-3 slices of bacon or cubed salt port. A dab of good oil. Fry stirring often till it begins to
brown and stick. Towards the end of the frying add a couple of mashed garlic cloves. Don't let them burn.
Then add your hambone, beans and stock. Cook as desired.