Posts Tagged ‘make it do’

“Waste Not, Want Not” That is what ham bone and beans is all about.

I love recipes that have a “make it do” quality… when the results are delicious.  Ham Bone and Beans is one of those recipes.  I love it.  It’s not pretty, but it’s delicious and it’s good old comfort food.

And it uses something that might have been otherwise thrown away.

We had a spiral ham for the Holidays and what was left was a meaty ham bone.

The night before, start with a 1 pound bag of dry baby Lima beans.  Sort through them and remove anything that doesn’t look like a pretty Lima bean.  Then put them in a pot of water to soak overnight.

This is a dish that cooks all day, so in the morning rinse the beans well… I just love getting dinner done in the morning.

Chop up a large onion.

In a large pot, saute the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add your ham bone and beans.  Notice their is still some ham on the bone.  Most of that meat is a bit fatty and wasn’t suitable to for eating on a sandwich (or otherwise).  Don’t worry about that, once it cooks all day, the fat is easy to separate from the meat.  It gets so tender it is falling apart, and it is delicious with the beans.

Cover the beans with about 1 inch of water.  Season with about 2 teaspoons of salt.

And pepper.

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer (over low heat.)   Simmer all day, until the water cooks down into the beans and the beans become a bit creamy.

Remove ham bone and ham.  The meat will be falling off the bone.  Trim all the fat and chop into small pieces.  Return the ham to the pot.  Taste for seasoning and salt and pepper to taste. This dish does take a lot of both salt and pepper to make it good.

Serve over rice with your favorite Louisiana Hot Sauce- mine’s Cajun Sunshine which has nice flavor and is mild.  My husband likes Tabasco.

It’s a simple dish.  It’s easy to make.  And we love it.  So don’t throw that ham bone out!  Make it Do instead.

The girls and I are making Pinecone Elves today… They seem like a sweet way to welcome in the New Year.  And thank heaven for a day with nothing to do but what we want.  Happy New Year and Welcome 2010.

We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.  ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce