not your traditional Ham & Bean Soup

I had a ham bone saved to make soup. Last time, I made split pea, which I love, but I wanted something else. Ham and White Bean soup. But I didn’t have everything for a traditional Ham & White Bean soup, and I wasn’t going out on a shopping run: It’s snowing like crazy outside. School was cancelled today (again!), and I'm cozy inside and soup sounds perfect. So I made soup with what I had.  Sweeter and with more tangy acidity than any traditional Ham & White Bean soup – but that works for me! As near as I can remember…

Ingredients

1 lb ham bone, with extra meat and fat attached

1 lb diced ham*

2 15-oz cans white or cannellini beans

            1 can I drained, the other I dumped in the pot with the juice

1 15-oz can light red kidney beans

            only because I didn’t have more white beans

½ onion, small diced & sautéed until caramelized

1-2 t minced garlic

            I threw this in at the end when sautéing the onion

¼ C tomato paste

2 bay leaves

2-3 T honey

1 T apple cider vinegar

1 t sriracha

water or broth

salt to taste

I had Himalayan pink salt, but that wouldn’t be necessary, little was needed at all…ham is pretty salty already

Directions

Sauté the diced onion to caramelize it, adding the garlic in at the end. (My onion also had thyme, but not much; I would have also thrown in some small diced carrot to sauté and caramelize with the onion, but I didn’t have any. Next time…)

Throw the onion and garlic in a stock pot with everything else and let it all simmer at least an hour. Add water (or broth) to adjust the consistency to your liking.

Remove the bone, pulling off any remaining chunks of meat (if large chunks of fat fall off into the soup, remove those as well). Fish out the bay leaves. Season to taste.

Enjoy!

* The ham originally had a honey and Dijon mustard glaze; also cloves. There was maybe ½ cup of the sauce and drippings with the leftover ham; those flavors came through in the finished soup as well, though I added a little extra honey. Without the sauce, I’d add 1 T each mustard and honey, a pinch of clove; taste it and adjust as desired.

Grilled Monterey Jack with Prosciutto, Basil, and Fig Preserves

Last April, Food Network Magazine ran a feature on dressed up grilled cheese sandwiches. I just ran across a page I'd ripped out. I didn't have the dates called for in the original recipe, but it inspired my own twist...with a smear of chunky fig preserves (from Snow Goose Produce near Mount Vernon, WA), a gift from my good friend Gayleen who knows I love to cook. :) I love the sweet-salty combination from the prosciutto and the fig!

Ingredients:
asiago cheese bread
butter
prosciutto
monterey jack cheese
fresh basil leaves
fig preserves with ginger

Butter one side of each slice of bread (any crusty bread will do, but I had the asiago on hand). Place slices, buttered side down on a hot skillet. Top one side with a slice or two of prosciutto and a slice of monterey jack, the other with a tablespoon of the fig preserves, basil leaves, then another slice of monterey jack. I had my cheese sliced extra thin, so two slices wasn't overwhelming...and as it melted it helped hold everything together. :)

If you can't find fig preserves, I imagine
an apricot jam would compliment the
prosciutto well, too.  -- or go for the
original idea of thinly sliced dates.

Ham, Apple & Brie 'Tea Sandwiches'

Ingredients

1 loaf French bread

8-10 oz Brie, softened to room temperature

1 lb deli sliced ham

1-2 green apples

Dijon mustard

Directions

Peel and core apples; thinly slice.

Slice French bread lengthwise (top from bottom).

Spread top with Dijon mustard.

Spread or lay slices of brie on bottom; top with ham, then apple slivers. Replace top of loaf. Slice bread on the diagonal for individual sandwich servings.

Sweet Potato Biscuit Sandwiches with Ham & Blackberry-Balsamic Sauce

Sandwiches...
Sweet Potato Biscuits (recipe follows)
Honey Ham
Spinach, Arugala or choice of greens
Blackberry-Balsamic Sauce (recipe follows)

Split warm biscuits. Layer biscuit bottoms with ham and greens, drizzle with blackberry-balsamic sauce. Top with biscuit tops.

Biscuit Ingredients
1 pound sweet potatoes (2 to 3 potatoes)
2 T buttermilk
¼ t grated nutmeg
2½ C flour, plus extra for dusting
3 T brown sugar
1½ t baking soda
¾ t salt
¾ C cold butter, small diced
1 T vegetable oil
2 T butter, melted

Biscuit Directions
Preheat oven to 425° F. Poke sweet potatoes with a fork; bake until tender (about 1 hr). Cool, peel; discard skins. Beat potatoes with buttermilk and nutmeg until smooth. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Cut in cold butter until mixture is coarse and crumbly. Fold in sweet potato mixture until just combined.

Dust a work surface with flour; turn biscuit dough onto counter. Press dough to ¾" thick. Use a 2½" biscuit cutter to cut biscuits, reshaping dough as needed. Place biscuits on a baking sheet, brush biscuit tops with melted butter. Bake (400° F) until golden (15-18 minutes).

Blackberry-Balsamic Sauce Ingredients
12 oz blackberry preserves
1 C packed fresh basil leaves, stems and all
½ C balsamic vinegar
¼ C yellow mustard
1 t whole black peppercorns
1 serrano chile, split in half

Blackberry-Balsamic Sauce Directions
Combine preserves, basil, vinegar, mustard, peppercorns and chile in saucepot over medium heat.
Simmer until thickened (8-10 minutes). Strain through a fine sieve to remove leaves, peppercorns and chile. Cool.