Ham and Pinto Beans

Ham and Pinto Beans

 

As normal for our family we fixed up beans on New Years day. While they were cooking I reminisced and told the kids the story of coming home from school to smell the beans that mom was cooking. Comfort food is what they call it and I can well agree it makes me feel comfortable and they taste like comfort as well. Ham and beans was something that mom would fix often and we would all enjoy. Corn bread and fried taters often accompanied the beans and together they were a delicious feast for all to enjoy.

 

If it is the first time that you will be preparing pinto beans don't worry it is easy enough to get done. Depending on the time you have to prepare your beans you can either soak your beans overnight or give them a quick soak the day of cooking. The beans will cook up in about 2 hours.

 

 

We had previously cooked a ham and saved the ham bone to use in our beans. The extra bits of meat and bone offer the beans more flavor.
 

HAM and PINTO BEANS

1. You must go through the beans by hand first. To do this, pour a small amount of beans on your counter and go through them looking for any tiny pebbles, dirt or bad beans. Throw those away and scoop the good beans into a colander. Rinse beans with water. Pour beans into a soup pot, and pour water over them to cover a couple of inches. Place lid on pot and let soak overnight.

2. When ready to cook, drain off all the water from the beans. Place the ham bone in the soup pot. Pour the drained beans into the pot. Then refill the pan with enough water to cover the beans at least an inch. At this time, add a small chopped onion. Bring soup to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer, covered until beans are tender. Check the beans fairly often as they really can use up the water, so you may need to add more water during cooking. So make sure the pan does not get dry and cause the beans to burn. Burned beans do not taste good! (I learned this from experience too!) Beans are done when you can easily smash them with a fork, or taste them to check tenderness. In my altitude, the beans are done in less than 2 hours.

3. Carefully remove the ham bone from the soup. When cool enough to handle, remove the ham from the bone and take off any fat that may be still attached. Add the ham pieces back to the soup. I then taste them to see how much salt and pepper to add.

4. As you can see, this is a very basic method. If you like beans with a kick, add some seeded hot peppers while cooking. My Mother sometime added a dried Bay leaf to the pot. It just depends on what you like. My husband and I love to eat our Ham and Pinto Beans with a spoonful of spicy salsa added. Delicious! If you haven't cooked dried beans before, I hope you'll give these a try. They are not only tasty, but healthy as well. Enjoy!

NOTE: IF the beans are almost done and there happens to be more liquid than you want in the pot, just remove the lid and let the broth cook down some.