If you are an artist in a tight economic era, it may be a good idea to learn how to make a good pot of Ham & Beans. My mom and her mom used to make this dish with smoked ham hocks instead of ham. Back in my Grandmother’s time, ham hocks weren’t a fad, they were an inexpensive way to flavor food when actual meat was scarce. Now, they are much pricier than ham!
This was a good batch nonetheless, with a hambone that had a fair amount of meat still on it. Not very photogenic, but tasty.
The trick with ham is, never use a sweet ham to make beans. The very best ham for this is a good old Virginia dry cured country ham, the kind you see wrapped in cloth and hanging in a country store or old fashioned market. The next best thing is a hickory smoked ham from some bony old fellow’s smokehouse in the Ozarks or somewhere in Tennessee or Kentucky. It takes very little of the saltier meat to make a great pot of beans when the ham is a great ham.
Watery commercial hams from today’s skinny mass produced hogs don’t come close. But, it is what it is.
Combine the best that you can come by with some herbs and smoked paprika or chipotle pepper and it will be OK. Just make cornbread to go with it, it in a sizzling iron skillet with a good amount of butter or bacon grease popping in the bottom before adding the batter, and you will be content.
I will put my family recipe here, if anyone wants it.