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Saturday, December 27, 2008

Christmas Ham and Black Bean Soup

Our holiday festivities included A LOT of food. And I am sure yours did to.

For Christmas Eve, we had garlic mashed potatoes, roasted brussel sprouts, whole wheat rolls by Mom, a HoneyBaked ham, the ugliest looking chocolate cake of all time (I am TERRIBLE at frosting cakes) and of course, some Marti's. My dad freaked out when he heard the ham cost $80. But I quickly interjected and said that it was $18, not $80. Yes, I completely lied. I wanted my dad to like the ham, not be mad at it.

A HoneyBaked is something that shouldn't be wasted. The outside is covered in sugary goodness and the ham itself is moist and just the right amount of salty. I wasn't about to let that thing leave the house without being completely used. So after the ham had been thoroughly attacked, I chopped up the remains, salvaged the bone and made a soup the day after Christmas. It was a good way to keep the festivities going.

BTW, the HoneyBaked website has a plethora of recipes (not pinatas. Name that movie).



2 Tbsp butter
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 28 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp mustard powder
A few grinds black pepper
2 bay leaves
8 cups water
1 ham bone
4 cups chopped ham

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the onions, garlic, and green and red bell peppers. Cook until peppers are soft, about 5 minutes. Set heat to high and add the black beans, mustard powder and season with pepper. Season with ground pepper. Stir and cook until beans are warmed through, about 5 minutes.

Pour water over the beans and add the bay leaves. Allow to come up to a boil. Drop in the ham bone and simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours.

Remove ham bone and set on a cutting board. Remove all loose meat from the bone, chop it and add the meat back into the pot. Add the 4 cups chopped ham. Stir to combine, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve with bread for dipping.

Yields 6 servings.

Rookie's Notes: Don't worry about adding salt. Ham is already salty. If you prefer to brine your mouth, add the salt to your own portion. Not everyone likes a pickled tongue.

6 comments:

Megan said...

The Three Amigos, my little buttercup.

My crazy crazy life said...

Whitney, I bought a ham last week and made 4 meals out of it...I also took pics and am going to blog them soon. Aren't ham and ham bones from the Honey Baked Ham Co the BEST?

Snooky doodle said...

Looks tasty :)

[Morgan] said...

from a twitterist: burts bees or the gloss from bath and body.

Janeen said...

I'm on it tomorrow. by the way, Rootbeer cookies were a big hit!

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Are all Dad's alike? Mine would have done the same thing! I NEVER tell him the price of anything. Good save!

I used my ham bone (LOL) to make a twelve bean soup in the crock pot! Talk about yummy and so easy!
~ingrid