Northern Beans

[pappy19]

Pappy's Northern bean soup is awesome the second day, but I aint smart enough to wait.

8 Cups water
1 Pound dried Great Northern beans
1 can (8 ounce) tomato sauce
2 1/4 pounds smoked ham
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon instant beef bouillon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 cups mashed potatoes
2 medium carrots, cut

Heat water and beans to boiling in Dutch oven; boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 1 hour.

Add tomato sauce, ham, onion, instant bouillon, salt, pepper, and garlic to beans. Heat to boiling reduce heat. Cover and simmer until beans are tender about 2 hours (do not boil or beans will burst).

Stir potatoes, and carrots into soup. Heat to boiling reduce heat. Cover and simmer until veggies are tender, about 45 minutes. Stir in 1 to 2 cups milk or water for thinner consistency.

[Lily&Me]

Yum!

I'll be making some of that!


Maggie

[mayco]

A nice woman from North Carolina talked me into adding a bit of potato to my ham n beans. I had never done it before but its really good. Ive made it that way ever since.

[rmkrum]

Yum!!


Sent from my pocket Internet using Airstream Forums

[terryV]

Sounds similar to my mother's bean soup, except she added about a tsp of vinegar to each bowl when she served it.

I have no idea why, but I grew up with it, so I still add the vinegar. I miss it if it's not there.

[mayco]

Took one look at that pic and headed for the store, ham n beans on the stove right now!! Hahaha...i couldnt take it

[AWCHIEF]

I put bacon and a splash of Bitters in mine.

[mandolindave]

I was camping for 5 days at a Bluegrass festival in Virginia. There were many Civil War reenactment folks there, and one of them made a caldron of bean soup large enough to feed an army. But I guess that not many of the campers wanted to deal with the aftermath of eating bean soup while they were sleeping in tents and small campers. Every time I walked by his campsite, he would beg me to have a bowl, because he couldn't take it home with him. Anyway it is one of my favorites

[terryV]

Where did ham and bean soup come from?

There is the story about Senate soup during WWll. That's not very far back, tho.

A Black friend of mine tells me that it came from the days of slavery. According to him, the plantation owners gave the ham bone to the slaves after eating all the ham from the bone, and the slaves came up with a way to get something to eat out of it. (He claims the same type of story for BBQ, also.)

Farmers that I know, (the old ones, anyway) claim it came from the "old country" and was brought by the settlers of our great land.

The stories are numerous.

Nobody really knows the origin ham and bean soup. We do know that almost everybody likes it, tho. It is served in high class resturants as well as your local "greasy spoon" cafe. Grandma made it, great grandma made it. There are prized recipies that have been passed down for many generations.

Now, I'm really getting hungary for some, myself. I wish Joyce liked it. She hates it and will not make it.

Sometimes it really sucks to be me.

[terryV]

Originally Posted by mandolindave

I was camping for 5 days at a Bluegrass festival in Virginia. There were many Civil War reenactment folks there, and one of them made a caldron of bean soup large enough to feed an army. But I guess that not many of the campers wanted to deal with the aftermath of eating bean soup while they were sleeping in tents and small campers. Every time I walked by his campsite, he would beg me to have a bowl, because he couldn't take it home with him. Anyway it is one of my favorites

I remember, now. That's what the vinegar is for. It's like Beano in a tsp.

[Airtandem]

I use about the same recipe except I use Randalls beans; sometime the Great Northern and others the MIXED beans.For the potatoes, I just cut some up in small chunks. A big teaspoon of horseradish to each bowl. Oh, yes the vinegar.
I make in a canning kettle and store in the garage that is not heated.. Want a bowl, just thaw some and re freeze.

[mayco]

Another kinda weird thing we grew up with is a big dollop of ketchup on top.

[Gearheart]

Ham and bean soup is a big thing in Eastern Europe too so slavery is not key to the invention. Vinegar and sour cream are essentials.

[mandolindave]

The recipe for red beans called for a bit of catsup. The difference in that dish is thyme and a bay leaf, no carrots Like red beans, I like navy beans over rice
Next time I will try apple cider vinegar.

[Rich W]

Thanks, Pappy, it's up next, right after we finish the rest of the 15 bean soup. It'll be great when the weather turns colder.

[polarlyse]

I like bean soup in any form. Will try this one soon. Remember " Beans, beans the musical food" . I do but still love them. I make a baked bean recipe that calls for some baking soda in the first boil of the beans. Makes it foam up and a mess if you don't catch them but after a rinse it's supposed to make them less " Musical".

[pappy19]

One suggestion, don't use as much salt as the recipe calls for, or it will be too salty. Next time I make these, I'm not adding any salt until the very end or let the individual salt their own. The last batch I made I used a real salty ham bone and the batch was too salty for most of my family. Also, next time I'm adding a 1/4 teaspoon of liquid smoke. BYW, if you want to keep up with Pappy, go on the www.fallsmill.com web site and order their stone ground corn meal and bake it in your Griswold cast iron skillet. They also have the very best pancake mix ever.

Pap