Were you lucky enough to score the coveted ham bone after this year’s holiday feast?  We turned our ham bone into Loaded Bean Soup.  Loaded with count ’em 15 of these varieties: Northern, Pinto, Large Lima, Blackeye, Garbanzo, Baby Lima, Green Split, Kidney, Cranberry, Small White, Pink, Small Red, Yellow Split, Lentil, Navy, White Kidney, Black Bean.

It’s New Years Day and we like many want to be sure to include as many ‘Good Luck’ foods into our day as possible.  We started with a bag of dried beans from Hurst’s called 15-Bean Soup, even though the label lists 17 varieties.  Ha! That reminds me of a favorite childhood magazine, mostly reserved for doctor’s offices.  Anyone else remember Highlight’s Hidden Pictures?

Can you spot the Black-Eyed Peas?  I was tempted to try and identify all 15 or 17 of these beans…That’s when we decided to simply call our version Loaded Bean Soup.

We had our own ham bone which we made ham broth from (simple to do) vs. their seasoning packet.  We did however mostly follow the soup recipe on the package.  I must admit I was intrigued by the suggestion of beans, diced tomato, chili powder and fresh lemon juice.

The result was a hearty flavorful soup, naturally low in fat and high in fiber.  That qualifies this Loaded Bean Soup as a Healthy Choice going into the New Year.  Serve this soup with a side of homemade Cornbread for a little extra good fortune.

Curious what other foods, besides Black-Eyed Peas, are said to bring luck, health and good fortune in the New Year?  Check out this fun round-up of 10 Good Luck Foods.

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Loaded Bean Soup {15+ varieties}

Cook Time 3 hours hours

Total Time 3 hours hours

Author adapted from Hurst’s 15-Bean Soup

Ingredients

• 1 pkg. Hurst’s dried 15-Bean Soup
• 1 ham bone
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 onion diced
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• juice of one lemon
• 1 Tbl. chili powder

Instructions

• Place beans in a large Dutch oven and cover with 2-quarts of water for 8-hours or overnight.
• Meanwhile, to prepare the ham broth, place ham bone in large stock pot covered with 3 quarts of water. Bring to a boil then gently simmer for 2-3 hours, skimming foam periodically. Remove ham bone, reserve any ham pieces and chill broth. Once chilled skim off an fat.
• Drain beans, cover with ham broth and simmer for 2 1/2 hours.
• Add remaining ingredients including any reserved ham. Simmer for an additional 20-30 minutes or until onion and beans are tender.
• Delicious served with cornbread.

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When you grow up in New England there are a few recipes that it’s good to have up your sleeve. In the case of Boston Baked Beans my mom not only had it up her sleeve but it was engrained in her memory. I’m eternally thankful that she took the time to write it down for me to share with generations to come.

Below is the tale of my first solo attempt at making Boston Baked Beans. Watching over me, I’m certain mom had a good laugh as I worked my way through.

~ Boston Baked Beans ~

Ingredients…

4 cups dried navy beans *(found out the hard way that these are not the same as great northern beans)

1 lb. salt pork

2 small onions thick sliced

1 1/2 cups molasses

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 tsp. dry mustard

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. pepper

1 Tbl. salt

**1 tsp. baking soda (for pre-boil – not sure why?)

Soak beans overnight in 8 cups cold water.  Drain.  Cover with 8 cups water and boil 1 hour with 1 tsp. baking soda.  Drain and reserve cooking liquid.  Brown salt pork in a hot skillet until very brown on all sides, then cut into small cubes.  Combine molasses, brown sugar, mustard, paprika, salt & pepper.  Put a layer of salt pork in bottom of bean pot.  Add half the beans, another layer of salt port, and top with onions.  Add remaining beans and onions.  Pour in molasses mixture, then top with cooking liquid until beans are completely covered with liquid.  Bake covered at 300 degrees for ***6 hours.  Add liquid periodically if necessary just to cover.  See special notes below:

* It took me two batches of soaking beans overnight and doing the one hour pre-cook (which each time yielded completely cooked beans – not good), before it occurred to me that mom’s recipe that called for “dried beans” should have been NAVY beans NOT great northern beans.  Not that there’s anything wrong with northern beans but they cook more quickly.  Thank heaven I wasn’t alone in this endeavor and my partner recognized a melt down in the making and ran to the grocery store for replacement beans. 

** Mom’s recipe also calls for adding 1 tsp. of baking soda to the pre-cook 1 hour boil.  I have no idea why.  Which reminds me of the story of the daughter learning to make the family recipe for pot roast.  Her mom coached her through seasoning the roast then instructed her to cut the end off before putting it in the pot.  The daughter questioned that step and her mother replied “that’s the way my mom taught me to make it.”  And so she called her grandmother and asked “why do you cut the end of your pot roast.”  Her response, “because the pot was too short for the roast.”

*** Because I ended up using great northern beans – I had to adjust the cooking time accordingly.  I only boiled for 30 minutes, then cooked for 5 hours at 300 degrees instead of 6 hours.

Pre-oven

1 hour mark

2 hour mark

This is the point when your house begins to fill with that sweet smell of sugars and molasses dancing with the smokey salt pork.

5 hour mark

At this point “when aroma becomes flavor you know something amazing is happening.”  Shared these at work today as we celebrated National Hot Dog Month.  They were definitely worth the time and effort!!

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Boston Baked Beans ~ a family recipe

These slow baked beans will transform your house. At the three hour mark your house begins to fill with that sweet smell of sugars and molasses dancing with the smokey salt pork. At the 5 hour mark you reach the point “when aroma becomes flavor and you know something amazing is happening.”

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

• 4 cups dried navy beans
• 1 lb. salt pork
• 2 small onions thick sliced
• 1 1/2 cups molasses
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1 tsp. dry mustard
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 Tbl. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda for pre-boil

Instructions

• Soak beans overnight in 8 cups cold water with 1 tsp. baking soda.
• Drain.
• Cover with 8 cups water and boil 1 hour with 1 tsp. baking soda.
• Drain and reserve cooking liquid.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• Brown salt pork in a hot skillet until very brown on all sides, then cut into small cubes.
• Combine molasses, brown sugar, mustard, paprika, salt & pepper.
• Put a layer of salt pork in bottom of bean pot.
• Add half the beans, another layer of salt port, and top with onions.
• Add remaining beans and onions.
• Pour in molasses mixture, then top with cooking liquid until beans are completely covered with liquid.
• Bake covered up to 6 hours.
• Add liquid periodically if necessary just to cover.

Notes

It took me two batches of soaking beans overnight and doing the one hour pre-cook (which each time yielded completely cooked beans – not good), before it occurred to me that mom’s recipe that called for “dried beans” should have been NAVY beans NOT great northern beans. Not that there’s anything wrong with northern beans but they cook more quickly.

The post Boston Baked Beans {A Family Recipe} appeared first on Lemony Thyme.