White Bean Soup with Cornbread
This simple soup is guaranteed to warm you up from the inside out on blustery winter days.
Mom always made cornbread with this particular bean soup, so I'm continuing the tradition. I don't know if she was just stretching the meal or if that's what grandma served with it and she was just copying, but it's probably a little of both!
Anyway, this is one of my favorites, plus I promised @karenb54 I'd pass it along...
I used one small bag of Great Northern Beans for the recipe, but any white bean will work. I highly recommend you sort the beans to remove any stones and then soak the beans overnight. This helps soften the bean and removes a little bit of their 'musical' quality. Change the water at least once. The beans should swell to about half again their original size.
Luckily, we had a half of a Panache onion on hand. These are the closest you can get to a sweet Vidalia onion out of season. They're just as sweet and have a longer shelf life. Any onion will do, but this is my personal favorite. Roughly speaking, I had about a cup of diced onion and a half a cup of diced carrots. Set those aside for now.
This is my new secret weapon in avoiding ham, but keeping the flavor... Better Than Boullion. Quite frankly, this is the best ham soup base I've ever tried. It's not overly salty and has a smoky tone that other brands don't even try mimic. Perfect for this kind of soup! Of course, those of you who aren't restricting meat, feel free to add a cup or two of diced ham steak or a smoked hock at this stage. I've had it that way, too, and both versions are tasty!
I used a heaping teaspoon and dissolved the paste into a cup of very hot water.
Next, I drained the beans again and threw them into a stock pot, adding enough water, plus the ham base to cover the beans by at least an inch. Bring to a boil for 15 min or so, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium simmer and cover.
Here's where you need patience, as you're going to have to keep a eye on them as they simmer. It could be as little as an hour and half or it could take several hours. Basically, simmer and stir til the beans are soft enough to give way to firm pressure by a fork.
Also make sure you don't burn them. Once burned, the flavor is permanent. Yuck! My stock pot is flimsy, so I use a cast iron griddle underneath to spread the heat more evenly and reduce the risk of burns. It works very nicely!
When the beans are starting to get soft, add the carrot and onion. I also tossed in a tablespoon of dried basil, a few twists of black pepper and salt to taste. Finish simmering until the vegetables are soft, too and you're done! I let it stand, covered, while I whipped up a package cornbread mix.
Jiffy has been my go-to for years. Easy, quick, and cheap!
I just followed the directions, except for one little thing...
I didn't have regular sized muffin tins, so used my mini-muffin tin and overfilled it. Hence the generous no-stick spray treatment.
I ended up with mushroom shaped muffins!
Here's the final result. It's so good, I'm having the same thing again tonight!
I am in love lol what is that ham paste? I don't know if we have that oh and I love corn bread, I am def giving this a go. Thanks hun : )
Yeah, it's a paste. It's really hard to find any ham flavored base that doesn't overpower with salt. I stumbled on this one in my local market and was hooked. I added a link, so maybe you can order it direct? Or badger your grocer to start carrying it...! Lol! It's worth it.
And cornbread is the best. Goes with lots of stuff, but this is the stand out combo from my childhood. Glad I paid attention and I hope you like it!
It sounds delicious, Ill check out the see if they deliver to the UK. I could possibly put some vegemite in, will have a look what's available. Thanks again hun you did a great job :)
Fingers crossed... Just go for a smoky bacon-type flavor and you should be good.
Thanks... Was fun to put it all together!
Ill have a look, thanks again :)
Nice trick with the cast iron griddle to spread the heat and even it out! Your soup and cornbread look really good. I've always appreciated Jiffy because they got their grain from local farmers around their family business in Chelsea, Michigan.
Thanks! The griddle trick came about on a U.P. vacation where the stove was propane. We had to figure out a way to deal with the more intense heat and that was our solution. I carried it over to compensate for the thin gauge aluminum pot. Burnt beans are a bummer. Lol!
Jiffy is a fixture in our house. I honestly didn't know they were that local til I looked up the link! I'm within driving distance of them. Who knew!??!
That's cool that you are so close. I used to live in Ann Arbor, MI and hung out near Chelsea, the home of Jiffy, a lot -- at the Dexter Metropark and Waterloo Recreation Area. Jiffy mixes are everywhere, they seem like they must be a big business. But they are still a family business in their original location, working with local growers. Chelsea is a nice community.
I'll have to do a little more research on that area. Sounds like a good destination for a short road trip. Thanks for the info and recommendation!
you're welcome
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sounds like a good combo, haven't tried that one before
Thanks and yes, the flavors work well together. If you really want to jazz it up, add a couple shots of Louisana Hot Sauce. That's my hubby's version. Lol!