By New Year's Day was Sunday and I did what every Black Southern woman does on January 1st: I cooked hoppin' John and collard greens. The black-eyed peas are for luck. The greens are for money. I don't know if it works — I've been cooking them every New Year's for forty years and I am neither especially lucky nor especially rich — but I am alive and fed and surrounded by people I love, so maybe the luck is just quieter than I expected.
Earl and I stayed up until midnight on New Year's Eve, which is a victory because most nights we're asleep by nine-thirty and proud of it. We watched the ball drop on television — Earl in his recliner, me on the couch with a blanket, a plate of cheese and crackers between us that was supposed to be festive but mostly we were too tired to eat. At midnight, the fireworks went off somewhere in the neighborhood and Earl looked at me and said, "Another year, Dot." I said, "Another year, Earl." He reached over and squeezed my hand. We went to bed at twelve-fifteen. Wild times at the Henderson house.
I spent the week taking down Christmas. The tree, the ornaments, the stockings. I wrap each ornament in tissue paper individually because they are irreplaceable — not in dollar value but in memory value, which is the only currency that appreciates with time. Michael's silver bell goes in its own box. Earl Jr.'s glass ball from 1977 goes in its own box. Everything else goes in the big Rubbermaid bin in the attic that Earl can't carry down anymore and that I probably shouldn't carry down either but I do because stubbornness is a Henderson family trait and I married into it and caught it like a cold.
The house feels bigger after Christmas. Emptier. The walls seem to pull back. The rooms that were full of people and noise and laughter are just rooms again — living room, kitchen, bedroom, the room that used to be Michael's that is now the guest room that nobody uses. I don't mind the quiet. I've earned the quiet. But I notice it, the way you notice a sound that's stopped — not the silence itself, but the memory of what filled it.
I made a pot of soup. Ham and white bean, from the Christmas ham bone, because waste is the only sin I take seriously. The broth was rich and the beans were creamy and Earl ate two bowls and didn't complain about the lack of salt, which means either the soup was perfectly seasoned or his taste buds have finally surrendered. I choose to believe the former.
Happy New Year, baby. May your table be full and your pot never empty.
Now go on and feed somebody.
The hoppin’ John and collard greens were for luck and money, same as always — but the soup, the ham and white bean soup I made from the Christmas ham bone sitting in my refrigerator, that one was for something else entirely. That one was for the quiet week between the holidays and the ordinary, when the house is too empty to ignore and the best thing you can do is put a pot on the stove and let it fill the air with something warm. If you’ve got a ham bone and a bag of dried white beans and a little time, this is exactly the pot you want.
Ham and White Bean Soup
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 1 hr 45 min | Total Time: 2 hrs | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 meaty ham bone (from a roasted or baked ham)
- 1 lb dried Great Northern or cannellini beans, rinsed and sorted
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 stalks celery, sliced
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
- 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 bay leaves
- Black pepper to taste
- Salt to taste (add at the end — the ham bone carries salt)
- Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Soak the beans. Place rinsed beans in a large bowl and cover with cold water by at least 2 inches. Soak overnight, or use the quick-soak method: bring beans and water to a boil for 2 minutes, remove from heat, cover, and let stand 1 hour. Drain and rinse either way before using.
- Build the base. In a large Dutch oven or heavy stockpot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6–8 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, until fragrant.
- Add the broth and ham bone. Pour in the chicken broth and water. Nestle the ham bone into the pot. Add the drained beans, thyme, rosemary, smoked paprika, and bay leaves. Stir to combine.
- Simmer low and slow. Bring the pot to a gentle boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until the beans are completely tender and creamy. Stir occasionally and add a splash of water if the broth reduces too much.
- Pull the meat. Remove the ham bone from the pot and place it on a cutting board. When cool enough to handle, pull off any remaining meat in small shreds and stir it back into the soup. Discard the bone and bay leaves.
- Taste and finish. Use the back of a spoon or a potato masher to lightly crush some of the beans against the side of the pot — this thickens the broth and gives it that creamy, rich body. Taste before adding any salt, since the ham bone seasons the broth considerably. Add black pepper and salt as needed.
- Serve. Ladle into deep bowls and garnish with fresh parsley if you like. Good with crusty bread or cornbread on the side.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 290 | Protein: 22g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 34g | Fiber: 9g | Sodium: 520mg