What you need:

• 1- Bag each: Pinto HamBeens®, Great Northern HamBeens
• 4- cups chopped onion
• 2- cups chopped green pepper
• 3- cloves garlic (smashed)
• 2- ham shanks or hocks
• 1- cup ketchup
• 1- cup yellow mustard
• 1- cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2- cup full flavor molasses
• 2- cups crumbled bacon (nice and crispy!)
• 2- cups peeled and diced granny smith apple (about 2 apples)
• 1- tbsp. fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1- tbsp. fresh thyme, finely chopped
• 1/2- tbsp. crushed red pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1- tbsp. olive/vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 400˚. Rinse and sort through both packages of beans. Check for any unwanted debris or stones and discard. Pour the beans into a large bowl and cover with at least 2″ of water. Allow the beans to soak for at least 4 hours (or as long as overnight). Drain the excess water and set the beans aside.

2. In a large dutch oven or oven safe pot over medium-high heat, sauté the onion and green pepper in 1 tbsp. oil. When the onions become translucent, add the garlic. Cook for 4-5 more minutes, then add the ham shanks, soaked beans, and 9 cups of water. Turn heat to high and bring mixture to a rolling boil.

3. Once boiling, remove from the heat, cover the pot and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 90 minutes, checking every 30 minutes to make sure there is enough liquid to cover the beans. Add more water if necessary.

4. After 90 minutes, check the beans for done-ness. If completely tender, remove the ham shanks (you can trim off the meat and add back to pot if desired). Then stir in all the remaining ingredients, including the HamBeens flavor packet. Re-cover the pot and place back in the oven for an additional 20 minutes. At that point, the pot can be left in a warm oven until ready to serve. Serve hot with your favorite Memorial Day meal!

Have a great holiday weekend!

Georgia has its’ Vidalia Onions. Idaho has its’ potatoes. Even Oklahoma has its’ (controversial vegetable) Watermelons. So it’s hard to believe (especially around this time of year) that Indiana hasn’t made Sweet Corn its’ official vegetable yet. Drive for several hours in any direction and as soon as the buildings disappear, 6′+ giant stalks appear. The ears are enormous and have a taste as sweet as anywhere you will find. I try to incorporate the delicious veggie into at least 2 meals a week while in season. So with that in mind, I made a trip to the downtown Indy Farmers’ Market to find the ingredients for some Sweet Corn and White Bean Chowder.

What you need:

1- Package Hurst’s® HamBeens® Great Northern Bean Soup

4- Cups fresh sweet corn (about 6 large ears)

1- Cup diced onion

1- Cup diced celery

1- Cup diced carrot

1- Cup diced potato

1/2- Cup heavy cream

2- Bay leaves

Salt and Pepper to taste

Crumbled bacon (for garnish)

Chopped green onion (for garnish)

1. Place the dry beans into a colander or sieve and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Check for any small stones or debris and discard.  Place the beans in a large (6 quart) soup pot and add 12 cups of water. With the heat on high, bring to a rolling boil, then cover and reduce the heat and simmer the beans for 1 hour.

2. While the beans are cooking, prepare the vegetables. Dice the onion, carrot, celery, and potato all into 1/4″ pieces. Boil the corn for 10 minutes, then remove from the water and allow to cool before cutting the kernels off the cob.

3. After cooking the beans for 1 hour, add the carrot, onion, celery, potato, corn and bay leaf into the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil once again, then cover and simmer for 1.5 – 2 hours, or until beans are tender. (***You can also add the used corn cobs back into the pot during this time to extract even more flavor. Just remove prior to the next step.)

4. Once the beans are tender, turn the heat to low and stir in the heavy cream along with Hurst’s ham flavor packet. Remove the bay leaves, then salt and pepper the soup to taste.

5. Sprinkle some of the crisp bacon bits, green onion and a little extra black pepper on top of the chowder. The results combine both the sweet flavor of the corn with the delicious smokey ham flavoring in the bean soup. I like to add a little hot sauce to my bowl and think it finishes the chowder off perfectly… Enjoy!

*This is my submission for this month’s My Legume Love Affair: 14th Helping. Hurst’s Beans is proud to sponsor this monthly event and will provide a bean prize to the winner! Thanks to The Well-Seasoned Cook for hosting this great event in August!

Yes.

That is bacon.

Go ahead, drool a little.

OK, now that I have your attention…

I am always searching for creative new ways to show how beans can be incorporated into a variety of meals. While preparing for a backyard grill-out this weekend, I decided to use our beans in as many dishes as possible. Baked beans and a cold bean salad were obvious answers… but how about something a little more original? Then it hit me… Mac n’ Beans.

2lbs. of cheese, crispy bacon, and some carmelized onions? Sounds like your Memorial Day BBQ just got a little more interesting.

One of the great things about using beans as a protein substitute in a dish is that you get all the “good” stuff (protein, fiber, ripped abs) without all the “bad” stuff (fat, cholesterol, pot bellies). Now with all this butter, cheese and bacon, I’m not going to pass this Mac n’ Beans off as healthy… but it has half the noodles as normal (less carbs), and the beans add much healthier protein than say, a 1lbs. of ground beef would… so that totally justifies it. Right?

What you need:

1-Package Hurst’s HamBeen’s® Great Northerns

1lbs. Grated Cheddar Cheese

1lbs. Grated Gruyere or Swiss Cheese

5- Cups Milk (at least 2%)

4-Cups Cooked Pasta (any kind)

1/2-1 Cup Shredded Onion

6-tbsp. Butter

1/2-Cup All Purpose Flour

1/2- tsp. Cayenne Pepper

1lbs.- Center Cut Smoked Bacon

Like Michael Scott, I too love the smell of bacon in the morning...

1. Alright, first things first… I HIGHLY recommend you immediately get that bacon cut into 1/4″ pieces and into the frying pan. Because a home that doesn’t smell of bacon, isn’t really a home at all.

2. Rinse the Northern beans with cold water for several minutes, removing any small debris or dirt that may be present.

3. In a large soup pot, cover the beans with at least 2″ of water and bring to a rolling boil. Cover the pot, reduce the heat and simmer the beans for 1.5-2 hours. Begin to check the tenderness of the beans at that point and remove when almost completely cooked through, but not falling apart.

4. Drain off the excess water and add 4-5 cups of the cooked beans along with the cooked pasta into a large baking dish. Fold to combine.

5. While the beans are cooking, begin the cheese sauce. The first step is to make a roux. In a large stock pot, melt the 6 tbsp. butter over medium heat. Once melted, whisk in the 1/2 cup of flour. A thick paste should form and begin to bubble slightly after a few minutes. Continue to whisk for at least 5-10 minutes until the mixture begins to become more golden in color.

6. When the roux is ready, begin to add in the milk one cup at a time while continually whisking the mixture. After several minutes, the sauce (consider a Béchamel at this point) will begin to thicken. It won’t reach it’s full thickness until the sauce heats to a boil. Continue to stir, and just as you see it begin to bubble remove from the heat and let cool for 2-3 minutes. (This will help prevent the cheese from separating in the next step, which can happen if added at too high of a temperature.)

7. Whisk in the cayenne pepper. Start adding the shredded cheese one handfull at a time. Once melted, continue with the next batch until all the cheese is added and you have a thick, creamy sauce.

8. Whisk in Hurst’s smokey Ham Flavor until fully incorporated into the sauce.

9. Preheat the oven to 375°. Pour the cheese sauce over the Mac n’ Bean’s and fold to incorporate sauce throughout the dish. Cover with foil and bake for 40-50 minutes (or until entire mixture is bubbling). Then remove the foil and turn the oven to broil. This will produce a delicious golden-brown top on the dish. Be sure to watch while broiling, as it is easy to burn at such intense heat.

10. While the the Mac n’ Beans is baking, use a small amount of the leftover bacon drippings (or 1 tbsp. butter) to cook the shredded onion over medium heat. After several minutes (at least 10), they will begin to caramelize and develop a delicious sweet flavor. Set aside for topping.

11. Allow the Mac n’ Beans to cool for several minutes before serving (helps to thicken the dish as well as prevent impulsive burnt-roof-of-the-mouth eating).

12. Top each serving with a generous potion of bacon and caramelized onion. This can be served as a standalone entrée or (like I will this weekend) as an incredible addition to a plate full of Smoked BBQ Pork.

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