Food Hussy Recipe: Crock Pot Ham & Beans

I've had a lot of desire for comfort food lately and Larry has been bugging me to make ham & beans...so on the hunt I went for a crock pot recipe because I'm lazy! And Voila - I found one! 

The recipe called for ham hocks but Meijer doesn't carry them - the meat counter guy suggested I get some sort of pork butt - mmm butt! They had them packaged in a wide variety of sizes - so I grabbed one of the smaller ones since there's only 2 of us...it looks fairly pretty in the crock pot. 

Let me also say - crock pot liners are THE BEST INVENTION EVER! Seriously - if you use a crock pot but not these liners - you are missing out! They are only like $1.09 for 4 and clean up is AMAZING! You package up your leftovers and throw the bag away! 

The final product was a little salty - but really comforting and easy. The ham chunks literally fell apart at the end of the day. I think next time I would rinse the ham a bit to hopefully taper the saltiness. All in all though - good recipe. Lots of flavor with very few ingredients - and you didn't have to soak the beans!

Crock Pot Ham & Beans

Ingredients:

1 meaty ham bone or 4 -6 ham hocks
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, minced
1 carrot, shredded (optional)
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 lb great northern bean, rinsed and picked over
6 -8 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)


Directions:

1 Add onion and celery to crock pot.
2 Place ham bone or hocks on top of onion and celery.
3 Pour rinsed beans around ham and sprinkle with pepper.
4 Add bay leaves and garlic.
5 Add chicken stock and stir to combine all ingredients cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
6 When ham is tender (6-7 hours) Remove meat from bones (discarding fat and bones) and return meat to the pot. Stir to combine and break up ham pieces.
7 To thicken smash some of the beans on the side of crock pot.
8 When done skim any fat off and discard bay leaves.

Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-ham-bone-and-beans-348200?oc=linkback