Grandma Nettie’s Ham and Bean Soup
1 - 1 # (or 20 oz) package of dry beans -
Grandma Nettie usually used white Northern beans, but she also did this soup with Hurst’s 15 Bean HamBeens. Even pinto beans will work in this recipe, but the bean you use DOES make a difference in flavor.
Water
¼ cup baking soda
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Water
I - ham bone with leftover meat on it.
1 diced onion
Garlic - plenty
black pepper - plenty
Optional…
Diced celery, red pepper flakes, oregano… LOTS more.
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First Steps … According to Grandma Nettie…
Pour your dry beans out in a dish pan or other pan and “look them” carefully. Beans ARE a natural product and tiny rocks, sand and debris CAN get mixed in the dry bean bag no matter how modern the machines are that pack them. She never missed this step.
Next…
Count out EACH and EVERY bean. Grandma Nettie used to tell us she always did this. She said you always start the bean pot with EXACTLY 239 beans in it. NEVER allow that extra bean, for if you do it will make the beans in the pot “too farty” … (240) Grandma Nettie humor there folks!
LOL
- After the beans are “Looked and Counted” they are rinsed well to clean them and put into a pot with plenty of clear water and brought to a boil. You want a lot of water because as they heat the beans start soaking it up.
*** Important added step if you are cooking at elevations (any place you have to change your canning times) the beans NEED to be cold water soaked for at least 12 hours BEFORE cooking. Fill the pot with water and beans and put them in the fridge overnight. Next morning rinse well cover with water and start the first boil.***
- When the pot has been boiling well for a few minutes take it off of the stove and set it into the sink. Dump in the ¼ cup of baking soda and stir well. BE READY. The baking soda will foam up into a green nasty looking foam. Grandma Nettie swore by this. She said that this weird step neutralized the gas effect in the beans and for whatever reason it DOES seem to work. No matter what bean recipe she made… even baked beans and the like she ALWAYS started beans in this way, and she was an AMAZING cook. (ask my hubby he will testify)
- Keep stirring the foamy beans until all of the foam disappears and the beans have cooled some. Then pour all of the beans and water into a colander and rinse extremely well. The soda has done it’s job it is time to be rid of it and the gas it pulls out. When the beans are rinsed well and clean, let them drip while you also clean out their pot.
- Then put the beans BACK into the pot. Add enough water to cover by double and put on the stove top to simmer. At this point you can also add your ham bone and a teaspoon of ACV to help leach minerals out of the bone. Start a slow simmer until the skins are peeling on the beans. Keep adding hot water as needed by adding from a boiling kettle, so that you don’t shock the beans and slow the beans down. How long this takes depends on lots of variables. How old were the beans and how were they stored? How high are you altitude? What is the humidity out today? Etc… Bean soup reheats amazingly, so this is a recipe best done BEFORE you really need to eat it or when you have plenty of time. (It CAN be done in a crock pot too on low, but watch the water levels)
- When the bean skins are peeling it is time to get seasoning. First add the diced onions and garlic. IF you are going wild and adding the optional veggies like celery, peppers or carrots add them now too. Grandma Nettie never addled those. Hers was a true simple soup. Simmer until the veggies are very soft. Now add black pepper. (and optional spices) Taste the beans. If you have been cooking with a true ham bone you may or may not need to add salt.
*** You MUST understand that this true basic bean soup is very cultural (Appalachia and Scottish ancestry usually). It is also VERY southern. AND a comfort food. People get weird about their bean soup. It is a poor people food. Where my dad’s people came from mom put a pot of beans on EVERY DAY. They were present at EVERY MEAL of the day year round. They never had much, but they could COUNT on a pot of bean soup to fill the empty spaces and give them the energy and protein that had to have to live a hard agricultural life. When you were really poor they would boil the bones until the bones were pretty much gone. When you had no ham you used lard. When you had nothing else they put in game. Raccoons have lots of fat, but the soup tastes pretty different. Pork is preferred. ***
Bean soup is intended to be soupy and juicy. The BROTH is where it is at. It should be hammy, savory with just a bit of black pepper kick. Cornbread is a MUST. You either slurp the broth and then eat the beans when the extra broth is done or crumble up your cornbread INTO the soup bowl to suck up that broth. (Or vice versa… some pour the soup over a plate of hot corn bread) The soup is traditionally served with a bowl of diced fresh onions, diced hot peppers or hot pepper sauce. Corn bread is always there. Usually butter and jam. A bottle of ACV is also offered (some (hubby's Iowa mom) add vinegar to the bowl - weirdos).
On the RARE occasion that we didn’t have cornbread (and Grandma Nettie made a SWEET light cornbread that could have passed for cake - which can cause a whole new war savory VS sweet.) She served sliced white bread sprinkled with sugar and drizzled with enough milk to make the sugar stick. (try it - it is amazing) You can also butter the bread (not toasted) and add the sugar. Sometimes on a whim dad (who could eat bean soup every meal) would crush in saltine crackers.
Bean soup is great reheated the next day. Just add some extra water if needed. YUM
Leftover bean soup for lunch.