WHITE BEANS AND TASSO – This recipe turned our good.
Originally published May 16, 1985 by Merle Ellis in the Chicago Tribune and that inspired the recipe below.
- 1 medium Honey Baked ham bone with most meat removed. (not in original recipe)
- 1 pound white beans (navy or great northern)
11/4 pound tasso, cut in 1/2-inch cubes- 2 quarts water
- 2 large onions, coarsely chopped
34 cloves garlic, minced- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon red pepper
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce – Forgot to add but should have
- 1/4 heaping teaspoon oregano
- 1/4 heaping teaspoon thyme
- 1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 cup chopped parsley
Cover beans with water and soak overnight. Or pour beans into 2 quarts of boiling water, remove from heat and let stand 1 hour.Poured beans into a No. 8 CI Dutch Oven where a Honey Baken ham bone with lotsa meat has been simmering for 3 hours plus. Added onions, garlic, salt, black pepper, red pepper and Worcestershire sauce. [In the original recipe the spices were added the third hour.]Continue simmering another hour.- Heat beans to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer and added onion and garlic. Brought to a boil then simmered for a couple of hours.
- Added tasso and continue simmering another hour. 3. Remove from heat and let cool 30 minutes, then bring to a heat again.
(This rest period often is called for in Cajun recipes to let the flavors develop.) Original recipe added “oregano, thyme, green onion and parsley and continue cooking 30 minutes” 30 minutes before the end and that did not sound right so that is not what we did.
8/19/2017 – Made for first time with the strikeouts above. Added a lot of our tasso so did not adjust salt until near done. Very flavorful from the seasoning on the tasso and what is called for above.