Hambone soup
Remember that succulent, delicious ham we devoured during the holidays a few months ago…well this is the last remnant of its soulful existence. I was rooting around in the freezer for chicken carasses I found the package of hambone and meaty scraps that I’d set aside for soup. Well nothing says soup like a mix of rain, snow, and sleet pouring down outside and even though I’m not feeling so well I knew this was one easy soup.
Put a pound of Navy beans or other white beans in a bowl and cover them with water. Place the bowl on the counter and go take a 3 hour nap. When you wake up and have the energy drain and rinse the beans. Put them in a big heavy pot, add the hambone and meaty scraps, a large onion and several cloves of garlic all rough chopped. Cover this with water, put it on a back burner, and bring it up to a simmer. Leave it there for 3 hours or so, stir it occasionally, every now and then urge it to fully adopt the piggy flavor hiding in the hambone. After three hours taste it for salt and acidity. If it needs some acidity, and I assume it will, add some white vinegar. Once that is fixed then add some red pepper flakes and thyme. Let it simmer for 20 more minutes then serve.
This is a hearty bowl of piggy soup. I like mine with a side of cornbread baked in my cast iron skillet and several dashes of Tabasco.
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Hi Vanessa,
great blog. I’ve probably met you at some point–I’m a Slow Food member and a Vermont Valley site host…!
Thanks for some delicious recipes. You’ve got good taste in ginger candies too ;-)
I’m going to rummage in the freezer for that Christmas party hambone now!!
We just used our leftover frozen Christmas ham last week! We had baked it with pineapple rings, so it had some sweet flavors. Don used that as inspiration to soak some Great Northerns, get out the molasses, and bake a lovely, luscious, slow-cooked pot in the cast-iron kettle. Mmmmm…so rib-sticking good.