New Year's Day Ham and Beans with Cornbread

Time for another delicious soup!  This was my first attempt at ham and beans and I'm surprised to say it came out excellent. My husband usually cooks all of the delicious things we eat, including this, but he went golfing for the day.  He put the beans to soak for me before he left so I tried to do it on my own.  It was even better the next day!

This is just a traditional ham and bean soup recipe that you can find anywhere.  Feel free to modify it to your tastes.  I saw many recipes that included vegetables, but that wasn't happening in my soup.  No how, no way.

Serves 10

Ingredients

1 pound of navy beans (or great northern beans) 

8 cups of chicken stock 

1 ham bone or ham hock

2 cups diced ham

Instructions
Make any cornbread mix to serve with the soup.  There are many out there, but my family prefers a sweeter honey cornbread mix.  

Eating ham and beans soup is a New Year's Day tradition.  It is supposed to bring you luck all year long if you eat ham and beans on New Year's Day.  I love it with cornbread crumbled up in it, but you can serve it without, or on the side if you prefer.

To prepare the beans, spread them out on a cookie sheet and check for small stones. Remove any small stones and broken or discolored beans.  Rinse the beans under cool running water to wash.  Soak the beans for at least 6 hours or overnight by placing the beans in a bowl and covering with cool water. 


**If you don't have that much time, you can try the quick soak method. Place the beans in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Then cover tightly and remove from the heat. Let rest for one hour. Or use canned beans, but I prefer the long soak method. 
Discard the water regardless of which method you choose.

Once the beans are prepared, they are ready for your soup.
1. Prepare the beans by your preferred method listed above.
2. In a stockpot, add the chicken stock and the ham bone or ham hock and the diced ham. 
3. Add the beans to the soup. 
4. Simmer for 60 minutes.  Beans are ready when they are soft to the tooth.
5. Remove the ham bone.  If you are using a ham hock, remove it from the soup and remove the meat from the bone. Add the meat from the bone to the soup. 
7. Season to your own taste with salt and/or pepper.  Definitely taste it first, because it was nearly perfect on its own.


Enjoy your good luck for the remainder of the year.  Happy 2013!