White Bean Soup with Ham

Election week. I'm not going to talk about politics because politics is a good way to lose half your readers and I didn't start this thing to argue with strangers on the internet. I'll say this: Harlan County votes the way Harlan County has always voted, which is to say they vote for whoever they think will bring the coal jobs back, and nobody is bringing the coal jobs back, and the county knows this but votes that way anyway because hope is the last thing you let go of, even when it's hope for something that's already gone.

What I will talk about is beans and cornbread, because that's what I cooked on Tuesday night after I voted, and because beans and cornbread are nonpartisan. Nobody argues about beans. Nobody takes a political stance on cornbread. In a world that's divided about everything, soup beans and cornbread are the common ground, and I will serve them at every table where people are willing to sit down and shut up and eat.

But this week's beans are a variation: white bean soup with ham. Not the ham and beans I made in July — this is a soup, thinner, more brothy, with vegetables. You take a meaty ham bone (I saved one from a Sunday ham three weeks ago, kept it in the freezer), put it in a big pot with a pound of great northern beans (soaked overnight), a diced onion, two diced carrots, two stalks of celery diced, three cloves of garlic, a bay leaf, and enough water to cover everything by two inches. Bring it to a boil, then simmer for two to three hours until the beans are tender and the ham is falling off the bone.

Take out the ham bone, pull the meat, chop it, put it back. Season with salt and pepper. Some people add a splash of vinegar at the end to brighten it — Betty did, apple cider vinegar, just a teaspoon. I do too. It's a small thing but it lifts the whole soup, the way the right word lifts a sentence.

Clay's season is winding down. Bryan Station is 6-3 with one game left. Win and they make the playoffs. Lose and they're done. Clay doesn't talk about the pressure, but he's been hitting the weight room after practice and coming home even quieter than usual, which is saying something. He ate two bowls of the white bean soup on Thursday night and went to bed at eight-thirty. I said goodnight through his door. He said "Night, Dad." That's enough.

Travis came by this weekend. He's been seeing Jolene more seriously — they've been together since April and she's still around, which in Travis's relationship history is a record. He brought her to Sunday dinner. Connie made pot roast. Jolene helped with the dishes without being asked, which Connie noticed and reported to me later with the approval rating of a four-star general reviewing a promising recruit. "She does dishes," Connie said. "Without being asked." In the Hensley household, this is equivalent to a presidential endorsement.

Clay ate two bowls of that white bean soup without a word of complaint, which in teenage-boy terms is a five-star review — and when a kid who’s carrying a 6-3 season on his shoulders cleans his bowl twice and goes to bed early, you don’t ask questions, you just make sure there’s enough left for lunch the next day. This is the soup I reach for when the house needs settling — nothing fancy, just a ham bone from the freezer and a long afternoon on the stove. Here’s how I make it.

Prep Time: 15 min (plus overnight soak) | Cook Time: 2 hrs 30 min | Total Time: 2 hrs 45 min | Servings: 6–8

Ingredients

1 lb great northern beans, soaked overnight and drained
1 meaty ham bone (fresh or from the freezer)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
Enough water to cover everything by 2 inches (roughly 10–12 cups)
Salt and black pepper, to taste
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Instructions

Soak the beans. Place great northern beans in a large bowl, cover with cold water by several inches, and soak overnight. Drain and rinse before using.
Build the pot. Add the ham bone, drained beans, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and bay leaf to a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven. Cover with water by about 2 inches.
Bring to a boil. Set the pot over medium-high heat and bring to a full boil, skimming any foam that rises to the surface.
Simmer low and slow. Reduce heat to low, cover partially, and simmer for 2 to 3 hours, until the beans are completely tender and the ham is falling off the bone. Add more water as needed to keep everything submerged.
Pull the ham. Remove the ham bone from the pot. Let it cool slightly, then pull the meat off the bone, chop or shred it into bite-sized pieces, and return it to the pot. Discard the bone and bay leaf.
Season and finish. Taste and season generously with salt and black pepper. Stir in the apple cider vinegar. Let the soup simmer uncovered for another 5 minutes to let everything come together.
Serve. Ladle into bowls and serve hot, with cornbread on the side.

Nutrition (per serving)

White Bean Soup with Ham — Common Ground for Election Night