Ham and Bean Soup is a classic! Many people associate it with happy childhood memories, cool nights in, filling their bellies with hearty goodness, and sharing a meal they enjoy with loved ones. So, deviating from a tried-and-true recipe can be a little risky, but there is something to be said for knowing what you like. But, I do it all the time with these posts, don't I? I tell you about a recipe but then never miss an opportunity to talk about how I'd change or improve it next time. *shrug* Food, like art, is subjective, and you might not always like the end result, but you can always trust that the artist had enough faith in their creation to put it in front of you. As such, it is always appreciated! This week, my frequent collaborator, Lisa, decided to modify an existing recipe fairly significantly and fill it with extra goodness to please our group... Let's see how it went!
This recipe came from: My friend, Lisa. It started as an Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup recipe from Hurst's HamBeens Brand (https://hurstbeans.com/recipes/instant-pot-ham-and-bean-soup), but she didn't use the Instant Pot, and she made enough changes and additions to it that I think it can rightly be called hers. So, in the tradition of the other original recipes I've made in the past, I got permission to print her recipe here for you, in its entirety!
RECIPE:
1 20 oz package HamBeens 15 Bean Soup (*reserve the seasoning packet)
8 cups water
4 tsp Better Than Bullion (Chicken Flavor) (*you can substitute 8 cups of chicken broth for the water and Better The Bullion, if preferred)
1 cup onion, chopped
1 smoked ham shank
1 lb smoked beef sausage, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 tsp chili powder
Juice of 1 lemon
3 cloves garlic
3 carrots, diced
1 cup celery (approx. 2 stalks), diced
1 bay leaf
1. Soak the beans overnight.
2. Place the soaked beans in a pot with the broth or water/bullion, onion, and smoked ham shank, and bring it to a boil. Then, reduce the heat and simmer for 90-120 minutes.
3. While the beans/ham are cooking, slice the smoked sausage and brown in olive oil. Set aside.
4. Remove the ham shank from the pot, cut the meat from the bone, and cube the meat into bite-sized pieces before adding it back to the pot.
5. Add the browned sausage slices, diced tomatoes, chili powder, lemon juice, garlic, carrots, celery, and bay leaf to the pot. Cover and cook for another 30 minutes at a heat sufficient to maintain a simmer.
6. Add the contents of the seasoning packet from the bag of beans to the pot two minutes before the soup finishes cooking.
7. Remove from heat and serve immediately. Enjoy!
General Thoughts: The prep on this one wasn't terrible, but it did take some doing... In a flip of our usual arrangement, Lisa handled the lion's share of the cooking on this one while I got to play the sous chef role. She soaked the beans overnight but, if you don't have time for that, there are several methods available to "power soak" dried beans to achieve a similar effect in a little over an hour (https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-quicksoak-dried-beans-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-198610). In addition to prepping the beans, there is a bit of chopping, dicing, slicing, sautéeing, etc. to be done, as well as 2+ hours of cook time, so make sure you get started early enough before dinnertime. :-) Thankfully, the work is ultimately worth it!
*Pics 1 & 2 - Pictures from when Lisa made it
As you would expect, the soup was hearty and delivered on ham and bean soup's "traditional" role as comfort food. It was delightfully brothy (which I loved!), but each bite was also chock-full of chunky goodness. The vegetables were perfectly tender and the ham practically fell apart in my mouth! However, the pre-cooked sausage stayed a little spongy (consistent with kielbasa), which wasn't unexpected, but it felt a little "off" to me, side-by-side as it was with the more tender pieces of pork.
The wonderful smoked meat flavors suffused this soup, which created a pleasant and consistent taste profile, overall. The savoriness of the ham and sausage also greatly supported the soup's flavor, likely making it salty enough to please those who don't often cook with added salt. But, adding a little more salt (maybe 1 tbsp) and some cracked pepper (to taste) to the pot with all the veggies would definitely have opened up the flavor of this recipe even more.
Potential Improvements? As mentioned, seasoning the soup a little better (salt, pepper, and maybe even a couple dashes of thyme and oregano) would help this one. Also, using a different cut of pork (e.g., a smoked pork or picnic shoulder rather than a ham shank) and swapping out the sausage for more pork (i.e., using an extra pound of smoked pork instead of the smoked sausage) would help some of the (minor) texture issues that popped up for me.
Overall, I thought this one was really good, and I would definitely eat it again, especially if we seasoned it a bit better. Becky thought it was okay but not super flavorful. Jayson really liked it and thought it was excellent. (Chef) Lisa thought it was pretty solid and that the veggies and smoked sausage were solid additions. Andrew said it was really great, with a good balance of meat and beans. Hunter thought it was decent and opined that "no sausage and more ham" would have made it better. And, the ever-effusive Fox said it was, "Okay."
Verdict: Liked it. (4 stars)
