Believe it or not,
I've never made "ham and beans".
Frankly, until recently I wouldn't eat any beans other than Van Camps or
green beans. I love chili, but HATE
kidney beans. There's always a little
pile of beans left in my bowl.
A dinner we had on
vacation last summer opened my eyes to pinto
beans and I've been experimenting
with different beans ever since.
What I discovered is that some beans aren't so icky. The little ones that don't have a tough
"skin". I still can't accept
kidney or lima beans into my life. Baby
steps ...
After making chili
this winter using pinto beans instead of kidney beans and actually eating the
beans (it was actually hard to not automatically pick the beans out!) I decided
it was time to go out on a limb and make/try
ham and beans - one of the two meals at home when I was a kid that I
would literally try to hide from . (The
other is … liver and onions. AWwwKK! I don't care how old and mature I get, I will NOT eat them
anywhere! Take THAT Sam I Am!)
I had to look up a
recipe for Ham & Beans. They all
looked pretty much alike, but almost all called for using one lb. of navy
beans, soaked overnight. I cheated and
used beans in a jar. DH says that is
what he remembers his mom using and we had frozen some leftover ham
chunks. Little else is required!
Ham Chunks
1 - 48 oz jar Randall's Great Northern Beans
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Cayenne
1/2 C Brown Sugar
1 Tbls Dry Parsley
Just throw it all in a nice, heavy pot and simmer
it all on the stove for anywhere from a half hour to an hour and that's
it! I had to add about 3/4 C water
because it got too think and pasty, and of course, the seasoning can be
adjusted - but this is just my starting point.
What goes with
Ham'n'Beans?? Cornbread! Cornbread muffins are akin to cupcakes! My hubby loves these corn muffins and they're
especially good with Mexican style food.
We really liked them with the ham 'n' beans, too.
1 box Jiffy
Cornbread Mix
1 box Jiffy Golden
Yellow Cake Mix
2 Eggs
1/2 C Milk
1/3 C Water
2 Tbls
Vegetable Oil - I use Canola
1-4 oz Can of
Chopped Green Chilis, drained
1 C shredded Cheddar
Cheese
Mix the DRY
cornbread mix and the DRY cake mix in a bowl.
I use my tried and true Tupperware Mix and Pour (I think that's what
it's called) because I like being able to
… get this … mix and pour the batter into the cupcake cups! Theoretically, you're supposed to mix the
eggs, milk, water, and vegetable oil in another bowl. I'm lazy and don't like having an extra bowl
to wash, so I do it all in one. Mix the
ingredients together just enough to make sure all the ingredients are mixed and
stop. Add the green chilis and the cheddar
cheese and mix just enough to make sure everything is fairly evenly
distributed.
Fill your muffin
cups (greased) or cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake at 350 degrees for 20 - 22
minutes or until a toothpick in the middle comes out clean.
You can sprinkle the
tops with more shredded cheese immediately after removing them from the oven
and it will melt on top. Never too much
cheese!! I got carried away trying to remember
to take pictures that I forgot to top them with more cheese shreds. Oops!
We managed to eat them anyway.
This makes about 16
muffins.
Adapted from Taste of Home's Quick Cooking 2000
