Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Don't Know What To Do With Ham Bone?

Last night I was going to make Barb's Ham and Potato Bake with the left over ham from New Years, but realized I forgot to buy the asparagus for it. After cutting into the bite sized chunks the required amount for the recipe and freezing it until the next grocery shopping trip, I still had this wonderful ham bone with lots of meat left on it. What to do, what to do? Then I remembered this wonderful recipe I had for a easy, delicious ham soup. It called for dry northern beans but I used what I had on hand: two cans of Navy Beans. And it worked wonderfully. Served with a nice hearty bread, I had focaccia on hand, it makes a tasty, filling dinner.

HAM BONE SOUP

-1 ham bone with some meat still left on it
-1 or 2 Tbsp. oil
-1 large onion, chopped
-2 large carrots, chopped into small bite sized chunks
-2 large stalks celery, diced into small bite sized pieces
-1 cup of tomato sauce
-8 cups of water
-2 large cans navy beans
-1 Tbsp. or 2 packets of instant beef boullion
-1 tsp. salt (optional)
-1/2 tsp. pepper
-1 clove garlic, crushed
-2 cups of mashed potatoes

Heat oil in a dutch oven, when hot add the chopped onions and saute for about 5 minutes. Add the diced carrots and celery, and saute a few minutes more. Carefully pour in the water and tomato sauce. Add ham bone, bouillion salt, pepper and garlic. Pour beans into a colander and give it quick rinse, drain and add to pot. Bring to gentle boil and then simmer softly for 45 minutes.

Remove ham bone from the pot carefully and put on plate or bowl. Add the mashed potatoes and stir until smooth. When cool enough to handle, remove meat from the bone, cut into bite sized chunks and re-add into the soup.

Serve with a hearty bread.

16 comments:

2nd Cup of Coffee said...

Great recipe and gorgeous pic.

Robin Lambright said...

Isn't that the whole point of making a ham... to get the bone.

Sounds to yummy!
Blessings
Robin

Jen said...

I do Potato Casserole with my leftover ham. I have never done this soup. Can you believe that?

Faith said...

Yummy...I make something called Cheesy Potato Sticks with my leftover ham. This soup sure looks good.

ellen b. said...

Yum! Love the square bowl...

Anonymous said...

Sounds so good!! I wish my family liked beans. I love them.

Anonymous said...

Mmmmmmmmmm....soups are one of the reasons I like winter (for awhile). This one sounds good! I, too, like the bowl - square - and RED! What more could I ask for!

Sandra said...

YUM, this looks so good.

Islandsparrow said...

A perfect winter recipe - thanks Suzanne!

Willow said...

MMMMmmmmm!

Jamie said...

Looks so good! Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Donnetta said...

Oh Yum! I have a ham bone in the freezer wondering what I was going to do with it. Thanks for sharing this!!

Tammy said...

Yum...that's perfect for a January day! :)

Kelley said...

I will have to try that with mashed potatoes. I've never done it like that before.

Katrina @ Callapidder Days said...

Yum. Thank you for this recipe! I have a hambone in the freezer, just waiting for a soup. :)

Shalee said...

We used our ham bone to make split pea and ham soup. Delicious, which is really strange coming from someone who always turned her nose up at soup.

We made ham and bean soup with some of the leftover meat, along with scalloped potatoes and ham.

Oh and we had some ham and eggs a couple of mornings too.

Can you tell that we had a lot left over? I loved it!