2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

[meadow]

Does anyone have a favorite bean for a "ham and beans" kind of soup/stew?

I'm eager to hear the responses! DH and I both come from families that use pinto beans almost exclusively. He loves the "ham and beans" type meals you've described (I prefer them cooked with garlic, or with nothing at all).

 

[flowerbug]

Practically everything we eat can be toxic in certain amounts. ...

yep! we're about 60% water but we can still drown or kill ourselves if we drink too much all at once.

life is interesting.

it's a good thing that cooking often does destroy a lot of toxins - still i don't like to depend upon that and i much prefer knowing what i'm eating and how to properly prepare it.

 

[flowerbug]

split pea, bean and ham soup is one of our favorites, but we don't get ham that often now to make it. it is a pretty standard recipe but what i like to do is make sure the beans and peas are mostly cooked before adding the rest of the ingredients because i don't like the ham to lose all the flavor to the soup and i want the carrots a bit crunchy. celery and onion can get cooked in the microwave to soften them before adding to the soup/stew. minimal spices, bayleaf if we have them (usually don't). that's about it.

for alternative beans for soups i adore the Purple Dove dry beans because they cook up quicker than Pinto beans and they have a milder Pinto flavor and the texture is creamy. i just made 10 quarts of PD and Red Ryder (a small red kidney) beans so we could put some in the freezer and we ate the rest. burritos. yum. i just made those in plain water - i never add salt to any beans i cook.

note i do like Pinto beans too.

we do make bean soup (without the split or whole peas) and the recipe is very similar to the one above. diced ham from the ham bone and some juice from the ham too if we can get it. it's our first way of using the leftover ham bone from Christmas or Easter dinners. the beans we use for this are Great Northern or the Navy Pea Bean but i'm very happy to use other beans but Mom is a traditionalist for the bean soup so we don't use the many others i have on hand. i'm sure they'd work just fine. they're all good beans as far as i'm concerned.

i'm sure i'd like Lima beans and ham as a soup or stew too.

plain, or with a bit of butter, sometimes a bit of garlic salt, burritoes are usually with some cheese and then microwaved to melt the cheese and warm up the beans. pile the rest of the stuff on top and hit it with some hot sauce (for me - Mom won't touch the stuff).

beans in tex-mex chili. yes, sure. it's all very good food and very filling in the middle of winter when you want something more substantial.

i just don't think i can ever go wrong with beans. i am quite biased that ways.

 

[Boilergardener]

I

split pea, bean and ham soup is one of our favorites, but we don't get ham that often now to make it. it is a pretty standard recipe but what i like to do is make sure the beans and peas are mostly cooked before adding the rest of the ingredients because i don't like the ham to lose all the flavor to the soup and i want the carrots a bit crunchy. celery and onion can get cooked in the microwave to soften them before adding to the soup/stew. minimal spices, bayleaf if we have them (usually don't). that's about it.

for alternative beans for soups i adore the Purple Dove dry beans because they cook up quicker than Pinto beans and they have a milder Pinto flavor and the texture is creamy. i just made 10 quarts of PD and Red Ryder (a small red kidney) beans so we could put some in the freezer and we ate the rest. burritos. yum. i just made those in plain water - i never add salt to any beans i cook.

note i do like Pinto beans too.

we do make bean soup (without the split or whole peas) and the recipe is very similar to the one above. diced ham from the ham bone and some juice from the ham too if we can get it. it's our first way of using the leftover ham bone from Christmas or Easter dinners. the beans we use for this are Great Northern or the Navy Pea Bean but i'm very happy to use other beans but Mom is a traditionalist for the bean soup so we don't use the many others i have on hand. i'm sure they'd work just fine. they're all good beans as far as i'm concerned.

i'm sure i'd like Lima beans and ham as a soup or stew too.

plain, or with a bit of butter, sometimes a bit of garlic salt, burritoes are usually with some cheese and then microwaved to melt the cheese and warm up the beans. pile the rest of the stuff on top and hit it with some hot sauce (for me - Mom won't touch the stuff).

beans in tex-mex chili. yes, sure. it's all very good food and very filling in the middle of winter when you want something more substantial.

i just don't think i can ever go wrong with beans. i am quite biased that ways.

Ive had great luck with smoked Ham hocks, and smoked pork jowel and "pork butt" aka pork shoulder. I add cut onions black pepper to the meat and beans and let it simmer until the beans are cooked. Smoked meat ive not had to add salt that often. Very easy! Can add other seasonings and celery or whatever you like!

 

[flowerbug]

the beans i grow here the most for bulk eating are: Yellow Eye, Red Ryder, Huey (a small kidney about the same size as Red Ryder), Purple Dove and the lima beans. Appaloosa and Painted Pony are both on the list but i grow them in rotation because i don't always have enough space to do each of them every year. same for my Tan Goats Eye (a small firm bean that i like to use for chili) beans - i was hoping that Huey would take over from TGE but i found out that Huey cooks up just like Red Ryder so it is not as firm as i expected.

Dapple Gray were supposed to be added to my bulk bean list but i'm not sure now we'll see how they do this coming season. Dapple Gray cooks up about the same as Yellow Eye or maybe a bit quicker.

of course i'm always trying out new varieties and my cross breed projects hoping to find beans that survive our conditions and are still productive enough to be worth growing. i don't need a bean to be hugely productive for me to grow it but i do want it to be consistent enough that i'm not wasting space.

it looks like Spotted Pheasant is going to be a later season green bean and perhaps also a dry bean. if so it will be one of the whitest beans i grow besides Yellow Eye. i hope i can answer those questions about this bean this season.

 

[meadow]

Does anyone have a favorite bean for a "ham and beans" kind of soup/stew? Im always looking for new suggestions on beans and recipes!

I've substituted Good Mother Stallard in this recipe for black-eyed peas: Smoky Black-eyed Pea and Sausage Soup

We grew GMS several years ago (this was the last of that crop) and I was not impressed with the flavor when cooked in just water. It is a beautiful bean though, very prolific, and it maintains a really nice creamy texture. It's easy to shell too, just twist the pod. Since there is so much hype about Rancho Gordo's GMS, I wonder if the lack of flavor was due to our soil or the strain that I grew? I've not been able to taste their's though as they've not put their 2021 crop up for sale yet. In any case, this is a delicious recipe and GMS works very well in it!

p.s. This is the recipe that started the whole, "Can I grow Black-eyed Peas Here?" from last week. I'd be perfectly happy to use GMS as a replacement from here on out.

 

[Jack Holloway]

From my observation in forums, many people in the US (and elsewhere) are unaware that kidney beans must be boiled for a certain amount of time to neutralize the toxins. Slow-cookers are insufficient by themselves. Perhaps some of the old wisdom has been lost as the use of canned beans became more common.

Interesting. I received some Rancho Gordo beans this morning. Included instructions for cooking them in a Slow-cooker say to cover with 2 inches of water, stir them up, then cook on high for soaked beans 3 or 4 hours and non-soaked for 4 to 5 hours. Also, as slow-cookers are all different, the times may very.

 

[meadow]

Interesting. I received some Rancho Gordo beans this morning. Included instructions for cooking them in a Slow-cooker say to cover with 2 inches of water, stir them up, then cook on high for soaked beans 3 or 4 hours and non-soaked for 4 to 5 hours. Also, as slow-cookers are all different, the times may very.

Which ones did you get?

 

[Jack Holloway]

Which ones did you get?

• Buckeye - a gift for a neighbor
• Marcella - a gift for an internet friend
• Cassoulet
• Santa Maria Pinquitos
• Frijol Negro Santanero
• Yellow Eye
• Vaquero

 

[meadow]

Lol! Some are the same as my order:

• Super Lucky 2022 Black-eyed Peas
• Marcella
• Cranberry
• Christmas Lima
• Santa Maria Pinquito
• Yellow Eye
• Royal Corona
• Chiapas Black Bean (Frijol Negro de Vara)
• Cassoulet (Tarbais) - a disappointment; not nearly as nice as what we grew ourselves.

Most were meant for sampling so that we could decide if we'd like to grow them or not.