Annie Mae Jones' Ham & Bean Soup

This is a grandmother’s recipe in the best sense of the word: simple ingredients, a ham bone, and patience. Annie Mae Jones’ ham and bean soup skips the long ingredient list and fancy technique and focuses on what matters, turning a spent ham bone and a cup of dried white beans into a deeply flavored, soul-warming pot.

The magic step is the bean-mashing finish. Pulling out a cup of cooked beans, mashing them to a paste with a little of their liquid, and stirring them back in thickens the soup without flour or cream. It is the same trick used in Italian pasta e fagioli and Tuscan ribollita, and it produces a soup with real body and no chalky thickener taste.

Overnight soaking the beans is the key to even cooking. Unsoaked beans cook unpredictably, with some turning to mush before the centers are tender. A good long soak guarantees consistency.

The ham bone is both a seasoning vehicle and a source of meat. Simmering pulls collagen and smoky flavor from the bone into the broth, and when the bone comes out at the end, the tender meat that falls off goes right back into the pot for textural contrast.

Kitchen Tips

• Save your Easter or Christmas ham bone in the freezer for this; even a year-old bone makes remarkable stock
• Skim any scum that rises during the first twenty minutes of simmer; this keeps the finished soup clean rather than cloudy
• Only add salt at the end; cured ham makes the broth salty on its own, so taste before seasoning
• Thinning with milk at the end, as the recipe suggests, turns the soup into something closer to a bean chowder with beautiful creamy body

Variations

• Stir in diced carrots and celery during the last thirty minutes for more vegetables
• Add a dash of smoked paprika or a splash of sherry vinegar at the end to wake up the flavors
• Serve with warm cornbread or a hunk of crusty bread for soaking up the broth