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Soup Beans with Crunchy Cornbread and
Sweet Pickle & Pepper Relish
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Soup Beans are a meal that reminds me of my family. Not sure where Soup Beans originated, but this meal is one that my parents, grand parents, great grand parents and so on made because it was hearty and economical and that's still true today. If you want to make this meal it's very simple, very wallet friendly and tastes really good. For my beans you will need 1- 2 lbs (I used 2 lbs) of pinto beans that I soaked in water overnite, 1-2 large pork ham shanks ( I used 2 for 2 lbs of beans), 1tbs ground cumin, 1 tsp granulated garlic, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper and S&P to taste. I placed my beans in a large pot and added water to cover by 2 inches and I added my shanks too. I brought them to a boil and then reduced heat to medium and let the beans simmer for about 1.5 hours then I added my spices and S&P. You may need to add water you don't want them to be too thick and stir periodically thru the cooking process. You want to cook them of course until they a very tender, usually about 2 -3 hours. The meat from the shanks will start falling of the bone after about 2 hours of cooking. At this point I usually help them out by taking them out of the pot and removing the meat and placing it back in the pot. That's pretty much all there is to it. I like to serve my beans with some onion or sweet relish and corn bread. I baked a white cornbread, using an all purpose corn meal mix and I just followed the directions on back, except that I heated my oven to 450 degrees and placed my cast iron skillet in with 2 tbs of bacon fat. I added my bacon fat to my cornmeal and milk mixture stirred it and pour it back into the very hot cast iron skillet and baked it for 20 minutes. I like my cornbread thin and crunchy and that's just what you will get in a cast iron skillet. I would love to hear any comments or suggestions. I've changed my settings so you don't have to sign in to leave a comment. Bon Appetit!
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