I must be my mother's daughter because I also made beans yesterday! I took ham to the church potluck sunday so I had a nice bone w/lots of meat left on it for my pot o'beans. Yum! Normally I just make the black bean and ham soup and corn bread like my mama, but this time I got to thinking about my favorite Brazilian-American Truda. She made black beans and then we would eat them on top of rice. And it was just as good as I remember it! (this picture isn't my dish but that what it would have looked like if I dished it up fancy.) Since it was a cold day and we were home I decided to make my beans on the stove to keep me warm :-)
Here's the Recipe:
Black Bean & Ham Soup
1 lb bag of black beans
Ham bone w/some meat on it
2 t Onion powder (my cheater method b/c I didn't want to cut up an onion)
Salt & pepper to taste
Soak beans as you prefer (back of bag has several options). I threw them in the pot the night before, then drained and rinsed the beans and added enough water to cover the beans & the ham bone. I simmered them for 3 or so hours. Then I removed the ham bone and picked all the ham off of it and put it back in the soup. There was too much liquid so I used my 2 c measuing cup to remove some. Then I added the onion powder, tasted the soup and added 2 t of salt. I wait to add the salt because the ham is salty and I don't want to over salt the soup. But you definitely need to add some to bring out the flavor like Mom said in the post below. I also added some leftover tomato sauce (1/2 c) for flavor. I like to take the potato masher and mash part of the beans so the soup gets thicker. I also cooked 1 1/2 c rice according to the directions. So to plate the meal or bowl it: scoop rice into bowl, ladel beans on top and enjoy!
