Yam recipes

Slow-cooked chili beans with dried black beans and black-eyed peas simmered with a ham hock in chicken broth. Soaked overnight, then oven-braised low and slow. Serve on their own or add to chili.

Old-fashioned navy bean soup simmered low and slow with a meaty ham bone, onions, and bay leaf. Just 7 ingredients, feeds a crowd of 15, and freezes like a dream.

Fruits afire is a flambe dessert with canned pears, apricots, and bing cherries in a reduced cinnamon-apricot syrup, finished tableside with flaming rum. A dramatic, retro showstopper.

Raspberry coil coffeecake made from rolled dough ropes swirled into a spiral, spread with raspberry preserves, and finished with a sweet powdered sugar glaze.

Classic stovetop rolled oats cooked in 5 minutes and topped with your choice of butter, brown sugar, honey, jam, or cream. Simple, customizable breakfast oatmeal.

Linda Williams' many bean soup with mixed dried beans, a ham bone, tomatoes, carrots, and chili powder. A slow-simmered Southern bean soup built to feed a crowd.

Hearty Shaker bean soup simmered with a ham bone, navy beans, tomatoes, carrots, and spinach. A rustic American heritage recipe that feeds 12 and gets better every hour it cooks.

Homemade deviled ham spread with warm spices, hot mustard, anchovy paste, and a whisper of sherry. Skip the canned stuff and make a version that actually tastes like something.

Italian-style lentil soup with diced ham, fresh tomatoes, carrots, celery, and bay leaf simmered into a hearty, protein-rich pot. Top each bowl with grated Parmesan for restaurant flavor.

One-dish ham bake with broccoli, cream of mushroom and cheddar soups, and a Bisquick biscuit topping baked golden. A creamy, hearty casserole for eight with just 10 minutes of prep.

Yellow split pea soup simmered with a ham bone, carrots, celery, and thyme for 3 hours until thick and smoky. A hearty, old-fashioned soup that turns a leftover ham bone into a full meal.

Hearty Italian bean soup with white kidney beans, ham, zucchini, spinach, and stewed tomatoes in chicken broth. Mashed beans thicken the broth for a creamy, rustic texture.

Spanish pan con tomate with Serrano ham slow-roasts plum tomatoes for a sweet, garlicky spread piled onto toasted baguette and topped with thin slices of jamón. A classic tapas party platter.

Quick red beans and rice with diced ham, cayenne, cumin, and hot sauce over brown rice. A Cajun-spiced skillet dinner ready in 25 minutes using pre-cooked ingredients.

Beau's notes: * There are no "jalapeno beans;" there are jalapeno peppers and pinto beans. I have two recipes, both of which are quite tref, but a Catholic should worry? But if you are hosting a Jewish person, smoked turkey will substitute most agreeably for the chazer called for in either recipe.]

Tender cream cheese cookies studded with coconut and apricot preserves for jewel-like drops that bake up golden and soft.