Ham with Potatoes & Green Beans

This is the kind of recipe your grandmother made without measuring a thing. A bone-in ham goes into a big pot of water and slow-boils until the meat starts falling off the bone, infusing the liquid with smoky, salty, pork flavor. Quartered potatoes go in next and cook in that ham broth until tender, then green beans join for a quick simmer at the end.

The beauty of this one-pot method is that everything cooks in the same ham-flavored liquid. The potatoes absorb that smoky, porky broth as they soften, and the green beans pick up flavor in just the few minutes they need to go tender. No separate seasoning required for the vegetables.

This is country cooking at its most honest. Three ingredients, one pot, zero pretension. The ham does all the seasoning work.

Pro Tips

• Use a bone-in ham for the best flavor. The bone releases gelatin and marrow into the broth that boneless ham can’t match.
• Keep it at a slow boil, not a rolling one. Gentle heat keeps the ham tender instead of tough.
• Add the potatoes about 20 minutes before the ham is done, and the beans about 10 minutes after the potatoes.
• Save the cooking liquid. That ham broth is liquid gold for cooking beans, greens, or making soup the next day.

Variations

• Add a quartered onion and a few whole peppercorns to the pot for extra flavor in the broth.
• Use new potatoes left whole instead of quartered larger ones for a more rustic look.
• Toss in a bunch of collard greens or cabbage wedges alongside the green beans for a fuller Southern spread.