Ham and Bean Soup
For Christmas my employer at the time gave all the employees a giant honey baked ham. Not knowing what the hell I should do with this monstrosity, I cut it up and packed away about 10 sandwich bags full of ham (not over stuffed) and put them in the freezer for safe keeping.
Because Maryland is falling victim to an Alaskan Dick Punch right now, I figured ham and bean soup would be perfect for a cold day.
Last night I took out a bag of ham to thaw in the fridge and also soaked half a bag of dried navy beans (Goya beans is what I used) in a bowl of water to leave over night.
This morning I drained and rinsed the beans, chopped the ham in to chunks, and put the beans and ham in my crock pot with 3 cups of water. I then added some chopped carrots, a quarter onion chopped, and some frozen corn (couple shakes of the bag....sorry I am terrible at measurements), a heafty pinch of kosher salt, several heaping shakes of ground black pepper, and 2 shakes of garlic powder (change to your tastes of course) and put the lid on, setting the timer for 5 hours on high.
It is heavenly!
Pairs well with gluten free garlic cheddar biscuits (2 cups GF Bisquick, 1/3 cup vegetable shortening (mix these two things first), then had 3 eggs and 2/3 cup milkd (I use whole milk). Then a few shakes of garlic powder to your taste and a heaping handful of shredded cheese, bake for 16 minutes at 400 degrees (don't grease the pan, just spoon them on to the pan, makes about 12 when I do it).
