Momma's Old Fashioned Beans and Ham

Monday, June 3, 2013

What you need:

3 C Mix of Dry beans

    I start with atleast 1/2-1C of the mix beans then add in pinto, black eyed peas, and lima

3 carrots peeled and rough chopped

3 sticks celery rough chopped 

yellow onion chopped

1 can of stewed tomatoes

2 cans chicken broth

Ham Hock

Ham Steak, chopped into cubes

4-7 cloves garlic minced

pepper, salt, chili powder, parsley, onion powder, garlic powder

What to do:

Pour dry beans out in small batches on a plate, sift through to look for rocks and such. Fill a large pot with water and begin to add beans to water after they have been sifted through. Once all beans are added, turn pot on high to bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn heat off or very low, cover and leave for 1 hour. 

Drain, Rinse, and add beans back to pot. Put in enough water and/or Chicken broth to just cover beans. Add more liquid as needed through out cooking. Put in the ham hock and turn the heat back on to med-low, watch it can boil over or burn the bottom rather quickly. 

As the beans start to come back to a slight boil add in seasonings. They are to your taste, at least a teaspoon or more of the chili powder, parsley, and garlic powder, add minced garlic. (*I would give you a specific on how much,but it is my moms recipe and its always just throw in what you like)

My mom lets her beans simmer for a hour or two maybe more. Mine takes a hour if that once I have them back in and heated again. They need to be thick, not soup like, but we do not want mushy beans either.  In the last 20 min before serving, put in veggies, can of tomatoes (squish tomatoes with spoon or your hands before adding) and cut up ham steak.

Take ham hock out before serving, my mom takes hers out before adding veggies.

From my family to yours