An acquaintance of mine told me how he would cook Lima beans with the leftover bone and skin from his Easter ham. He also shared how he would use the leftover ham glaze and drippings from the pan in the pot of beans to get a great flavor. He glazed his ham with a combination of brown sugar and crushed pineapple, and he inserted whole cloves into the skin of the ham.
I still had some skin leftover from the ham in my freezer, but the leftover glaze and pan drippings were long gone. Like him, I had pierced my ham with whole cloves, and there were a few of them still firmly implanted in the piece of leftover skin.
I looked through the beans for debris, bad or broken beans, and the usual rocks. Once this was completed, I washed, drained, and then degassed them. Once they were degassed, I placed the ham skin, complete with cloves into a pot. I put the beans back into the pot along with brown sugar, dried minced onions, and regular mustard.
I added 6 cups of boiling water to the pot and brought it to boil. I then lowered the heat and allowed it to simmer for about 90 minutes until the beans were tender.
These beans were very good, and we will definitely be making them again.
Here’s the printable recipe. Give it a try and let us know what you think.
Thanks for visiting Patty Cake’s Pantry.
- 1 pound Lima beans
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- Pieces of ham--skin and fat with meat attached.
- 3-4 whole cloves or ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons dried minced onion
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- Water
- Sort through the beans, removing any bad beans, pebbles, or other debris.
- Rinse beans and cover with water.
- Place on stove and bring to a boil.
- Once the beans are boiling, remove from heat and cover. Allow to sit for 1 hour. (This helps to degas the beans.)
- Drain the water from the beans and return them to the pot along with pieces of ham studded with whole cloves.
- Add 5-6 cups boiling water (use enough to cover the beans by 2-3 inches.)
- Stir in the brown sugar, minced onion, mustard and ground cloves (if you didn't us whole ones above).
- Over medium heat, bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer, at a low boil, for 90 minutes or until the beans are tender.
- When the beans are done, remove ham and skin from pot.
- Cut ham into bite sized pieces and return to the pan.
- Remove any good meat from the skin and cut it up, adding it back to the pan
- Serve with a salad and some corn bread for a delicious and filling meal.
My mother used to cook Lima beans pretty often. They were usually cooked with a hambone. Good eatin’!
I love beans and ham together.