Ham and Beans

Last week I told you I’d show you a fabulous way to use your leftover ham from the holiday weekend. My favorite way to make use of it is ham and beans.  Heck, I’ve even been known to make a ham with the driving motivation being the subsequent pot o’ beans.  Although, I’ve also been known to make a roast just for the ‘leftovers’ French dip, so it’s possible my judgment is a little faulty.  Regardless, these beans are to die for.  In fact, my house smelled so good while making them that Otto was sure to keep his nose unobstructed so he wouldn’t miss one whiff.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Beans
Celery
Onion
Garlic
Ham stock
Ham bone
Ham
Salt & Pepper
Water

I know there are no measurements listed there.  This is one thing where measurements just don’t really apply, but don’t be scared, I’ll show you how it’s done.  The first thing you need to do is sort through your beans and make sure there aren’t any pebbles or anything in there. 

You can use any kind of bean you like.  I decided to go with this lovely 13 bean mix, my thought being, ‘Look at all those pretty colors.  That will make a beautiful soup!’.

After checking them over, rinse them and cover them with plenty of water, then leave them overnight. 

The next day, drain and rinse them.

Then put them into a pan and cover with about 1 inch of water. Bring them to a boil, stirring occasionally.  After about an hour, I was starting to question my logic in choosing colorful beans.  The whole pot had just turned a kind of grayish brown color. 

When they’ve simmered for about an hour, they should be mostly tender.  This is a good time to add your ham bone.  If you haven’t recently made a ham, you could use a couple of ham hocks instead. 

Simmer for another hour, stirring occasionally to make sure the beans don’t start to stick to the bottom of the pan.  Add the celery, onion, and garlic to the mix and continue stirring and simmering.  If it gets too thick at any point, go ahead and add more water. 

After another hour, it should be getting thick, and the beans should be starting to fall apart. 

Time for the secret ingredient that makes these absolutely amazing.  Ham stock. 

What is ham stock?  It’s the liquid that cooks off of your ham.  In my case, that usually also includes pineapple juice, brown sugar, and spices.  Anytime you make a ham, always save the liquid and bone.  If you’re not going to use them right away, freeze them.  So, once the ham stock is in, dice up some ham. 

Stir it into the pot and cook it for about 20 minutes. At this point, the beans should be thick, creamy, and delicious.  Check for seasoning, adding salt and pepper if necessary. 

So much for my theory of colorful beans being pretty. 

The whole pot ended up brown, but oh well.  After smelling these all day, color hardly matters.  I still like the bean mix anyway.  It brings different sizes and textures to the mix, and the lentils and split peas totally break down and help thicken it. 

I don’t really have any serving suggestions… perhaps pair it with bread?  Personally, just give me a bowlful and a spoon, and I’m happy. 

What food do you make just for the leftovers?

the morning after

Migas is apparently one hell of a hang over food. It's quite handy too that it's made from a bunch of leftovers.

It apparently originated in Austin, Texas, but has spread to the surrounding area. And it's so fabulous a meal that I've decided to spread it even further. And while it is a handy morning after breakfast, it's also good to have for dinner before the drinks begin.

Migas typically starts with day-old tortillas, chopped and fried in oil, but if you don't have fresh tortillas, or if you're really not in the mood to deal with the extra step, tortilla chips (particularly the broken up ones in the bottom of the bag) will work just fine. Just as leftover pico de gallo will work in place of spending time chopping onions and jalapenos first thing in the morning.

Holy hell, I am lazy.

Sometimes I even surprise myself.

Migas

What You Need

• 2-3 fresh corn tortillas
• 2 tbsp peanut oil (or some other oil with a high smoke point)

OR

• 1/2 c broken pieces of tortilla chips

-

• 1/2 jalapeno
• 1/4 onion
• 1/2 tomato
• cilantro

OR

• about 1/2 c of pico de gallo

-

• 4 eggs
• 1/4 c milk or cream
• bacon, ham or sausage
• 1/2 c cheddar or monteray jack cheese
• more cilantro if you have it

What you Gotta Do

If you're feeling up to the extra step, and have fresh tortillas handy, chop them into pieces. Shape isn't that big a deal, but they should be relatively small. Bite sized. 

In a shallow pan over medium high, heat the oil until is starts to shimmer, then sprinkle in the tortillas. Fry them until they're golden then fish them out of the oil and set them on some paper towels while you do more stuff.

If you're using fresh veggies, now's the time to chop them. Diced fairly small. If you've got pico de gallo (or salsa, in a pinch) leftover from last night's festiviites, you can hold onto it for now.

Drain most of the oil from the pan. Or, drain it all and replace it with bacon fat.

If you're using fresh veggies, you're going to want to sautee them in the fat for a bit. Just enough to take the crunch off.

While those are cooking crack the eggs into a bowl and add the milk or cream.

Beat them together until they're starting to get a little foamy. Or, until you decide you're too tired to keep beating them, which ever comes first. Depends on how hungover lazy you are.

Pour the eggs into the pan with the veggies. If you don't already have veggies in the pan, add them now.

The reason you don't have to pre cook the pico: pico de gallo uses a combination of lime juice (acid) and salt to break down the cell walls of the veggies. This is a similar process to what cooking does. Same thing happens in ceviche, which I do not recommend for breakfast while hung over.

Add the meat now too. I had ham, but whatever your fave breakfast meat is will work.

Stir this all around until the egg is mostly set.

Sprinkle on the tortillas.

And then the cheese.

Turn the heat off and cover the pan so the cheese will melt.

While the cheese is melting, warm up the rest of the tortillas (I layer mine with damp paper towels and nuke em for a few seconds), and mash the leftover beans. This step is of course optional, but a pretty typical way to serve migas.

Yes, I had tortillas, and yes I still used the chips. I did say "if you're really not in the mood to deal with the extra step." I wasn't in the mood. Well...

Serve your migas with warmed tortiallas and beans, and some seriously strong coffee.

What's your favourite morning after food?