Hopping John Soup 

Makes 4 to 5 quarts

1 onion, chopped 

1 cup celery, chopped 

1 tsp. minced garlic 

2-3 cups diced ham 

8 cups homemade chicken stock (or use water with chicken soup base or canned chicken broth) 

2 - 16 oz. packages frozen black-eyed peas (or use 6 cups freshly cooked black-eyed peas or 4 cans black-eyed peas) 

1/2 tsp. dried thyme 

1 bunch fresh collard greens, chopped (about 2 cups when measured after chopping, but next time I would use more) 

Optional: ham flavor base if needed

To Serve - while soup is heating up add pinch red pepper flakes (optional) and 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar, or more to taste

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a large pot and heat - about 30 mins, stir to mix ingredients.

Use a slotted spoon to divide mixture between heated quart jars - fill to between 1/2 and 3/4 full of solids and then add broth from pot to each jar to 1 inch headspace (if there is not enough liquid left from pot finish filling with hot water), remove air bubbles, put on lids, and process in a pressure canner for 90 mins for quarts (75 mins for pints) at 10 pounds of pressure.

TO SERVE: Empty quart jar of soup into a pan use an immersion blender, food processor, or hand masher to partially process (smash) about half the soup. You want a mixture of broken and unbroken black-eyes peas, with some thickening of the soup from the pureeing process. Be careful not to over process. Add red pepper flakes and vinegar and simmer 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Tomorrow's Soup of the Day... Italian Chicken Soup

I have three soups for you good people today... my soup recipe files are in alphabetical order and the ham/bean soups seem to be so similar, but with differences (so I didn't want to leave any out) that I thought I'd put these last "hammy" soups all in one post so we wouldn't get bored with all that ham and beaniness... and we can move along to hamBURGER! Plus, we have a LOT of soup recipes and we may run out of cold weather before we get to them all! Enjoy this THREE-fer!

Today's recipe... Remember... Disclaimer: Some folks don't always follow updated USDA canning methods, they may live in another country where the standards are not the same, they may use heirloom methods passed down through the generations, they may choose other canning methods not recommended. Use this recipe at your own discretion, or adapt it to your own method. I am sharing these recipes EXACTLY as they were sent to me and take NO responsibility for them.



1 pound Dried Navy Beans -- or mixed soup beans or Great Northern beans or red beans 

1 ½ quarts Water -- or chicken broth 

1 tablespoon Garlic – minced (optional) 

½ pound Onion -- chopped 

5 stalks Celery -- sliced (optional) 

6 ounces Carrots -- 1/4" slice (optional) 

1 ½ -2# ham shank or a meaty ham bone or ½ pound ham 

1 each Bay Leaves, Whole Parsley, chopped - to taste 6 whole black peppercorns.

Soak beans 8-12 hours. Drain and rinse. (Or rinse beans, add to 2 quarts water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 1 hour.)

Cover with water or chicken broth; add shank, peppercorns and bay leaves (in a spice bag or tea ball), parsley and garlic. Simmer; covered, 1 hour, adding carrots, celery and onions last 15 minutes.

Remove spice bag and ham bone, cut off meat and dice in 1" pieces. Wash jars; keep warm until filling. Heat lids in hot water for 10 minutes until ready to use. DO NOT BOIL LIDS.

Divide ham among jars. Using a slotted spoon, ladle hot solids into hot jars, about 3/4 full. Fill with liquid, leaving 1" headspace. Use hot water to fill if necessary. Remove bubbles with plastic knife and wipe jar rim carefully before sealing.

Cover and seal, place in pressure canner (with 3 quarts simmering water), exhaust steam 10 minutes, process in pints 1 hour and 15 minutes at 10# pressure (for up to 1000’ elevation), quarts for 1-1/2 hours.

Let pressure drop of own accord ( about 30 minutes), open canner, remove jars to clean towel and let cool and seal, setting apart to allow air to circulate. Remove rings and wash jars carefully.

Yield: 6 pints if using carrots and celery, 4 pints without.

NOTE: This is an old time soup .... you can dress it up as you like by adding in onions, carrots, etc. Makes abt 2 to 3 quarts (can be doubled or tripled) 

1 lb Fresh Green Beans, cut into about 1" long pieces 

3 to 4 Potatoes, peeled and diced 

2 Cups Ham, chopped into 1 inch cubes 

4 Cups Chicken Broth or Ham Broth 

Add chicken or ham broth to a large stock pan and heat to a boil. Add green beans, potatoes, and ham. You are not cooking the vegetables and ham, just heating them up a bit .... simmer for about 5 or 10 mins. Fill 2 to 3 quart size jars about 1/2 full of green beans, potato, and ham mixture (use a slotted spoon) and finish topping off with broth to 1" headspace. Remove air bubbles, add more broth (or hot water if you run out of broth if needed), assemble lids. Process in a pressure canner for 90 mins for quarts (75 mins for pints) at 10 lbs of pressure.

Potatoes, peeled and diced 

Ham, 

cubed Carrots, skinned and cut 

Butternut squash, peeled and diced 

Broth (Chicken, Turkey, or Ham) 

In a quart jar, layer potatoes until half full. Add several tablespoons of diced ham. Fill remainder of jar with carrots and squash. Pour in hot broth to 1" headspace and wipe rim of jar with paper towel which you wet with water and vinegar to help remove oils. Place lids on finger tight.

Fill your pressure canner with your jars. For pints, pressure can 75 minutes at 10 lbs and for quarts, pressure can 90 minutes at 10 lbs. To prepare, you can eat as is or add cream to soup to give it a creamier texture.

Tomorrow's Soup of the Day... Hamburger Soup

Ham and Vegetable Soup Base 

to make Ham Vegetable Chowder 

Makes 6 quarts ingredients 

12 cups chicken broth (I use 3 quarts of home canned) (Sometimes I use 1 quart of chicken broth and 2 quarts of ham broth - totally up to you) 

4 or 5 cups ham, cubed 

5 cups cubed, peeled potatoes 

3 cups sliced carrots 

2 cups sliced celery 

1 cup chopped onion 

3 garlic, minced 

1/4 tsp of black pepper (optional) 

In a large pot combine broth, potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Ladle hot soup into hot, clean quart canning jars, filling about half full. Add hot liquid, leaving 1-inch headspace (if you don't have enough liquid add more chicken broth or hot water). Remove air bubbles, wipe jar rims, and adjust lids. Process filled jars in a pressure canner, at 10 pounds pressure for weighted canners or 11 pounds for dial-gauge canners, for 90 minutes for quarts (75 minutes for pints). Allow the pressure to come down naturally. Remove jars from canner; cool on racks. 

TO MAKE CHOWDER - Add two quarts of Ham and Vegetable Soup Base to a pot and heat - In
a separate large saucepan melt 

1/2 cup of butter and add 

1/2 cup of flour. 

Cook and stir over medium heat for 2 minutes. 

Whisk in the 3 cups of milk (I use 1 can of Evaporated Milk and 1 cup of milk), salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. You can add in 1 cup of precooked broccoli at this time if you want . Add to vegetable mixture with the ham; simmer 10 minutes until heated through. Stir in 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese just until melted (we like a lot of cheese). Serve in bread bowls or bowls. 

NOTE: This soup base can be used to make just a regular soup - I have added in 1 cup of instant rice while soup was heating. 

OPTIONAL: I have made this base with 1 cup of peas and 1 cup of corn added as well - this makes for a good pot pie. I usually mix in a few tbsps of cornstarch and add a can of evaporated milk to make it creamy. 

ANOTHER NOTE: You can add in 1 pint of white beans to this soup also while heating it up. I make it creamy as well. I mix about 2 or 3 tbsps of cornstarch in a bit of water and add to soup while it is heating and 1 can of evaporated milk to make it creamy.

Tomorrow's Soup of the Day... Ham Bean Soup

everything from soup to nuts

and everything from A to Z and everything but the kitchen sink
n. everything imaginable. (Colloquial.)

Today's recipe... Remember... Disclaimer: Some folks don't always follow updated USDA canning methods, they may live in another country where the standards are not the same, they may use heirloom methods passed down through the generations, they may choose other canning methods not recommended. Use this recipe at your own discretion, or adapt it to your own method. I am sharing these recipes EXACTLY as they were sent to me and take NO responsibility for them.



2 lbs dried great northern beans, soaked overnight 

3 pounds of baked ham, diced in uniform pieces. 

2 quarts of homemade chicken broth or 5 cans store bought 

2 cups carrots, diced 

1 cup diced onion 

3 cups peeled and diced potatoes 

1 cup celery, chopped 

2 cups peas, fresh or frozen (optional) I didn't add them in this batch 

4 bay leaves 

6 cloves of garlic, minced

4 tablespoons of dried parsley 

1 teaspoon canning salt per quart or 1/2 tsp per pints (If you use store bought chicken broth you can omit) 

1/2 teaspoon pepper (Black or White) per quart or 1/4 tsp for pints

Procedure: 

1. Clean and soak beans overnight 

2. Rinse beans and return to large stockpot 

3. Add all ingredients except salt and pepper 

4. Cover with chicken broth and bring to boil, lower heat and simmer for about 30 mins up to 45 mins to 1 hour if you want your beans mushier. 

5. Remove Bay Leaves 

6. Using a ladle and canning funnel, fill your hot jars leaving a 1″ head space. (I used a slotted spoon and filled my jars a little more then halfway with beans, ham, and veggies, and found there was not enough juice in the soup to fill each jar completely up to a 1" headspace so I only added enough to cover the beans and other veggies and finished topping it off with hot water to 1" headspace, this broth is very rich and can handle it). 

7. Pressure can 1 hour and 15 mins for pints and 1 hour and 30 mins for quarts at 10 lbs. To Prepare - I like my soup thick and creamy so I add 1/2 cup flour, 2 cups of milk, and 2 tbsps of butter for 2 quarts of soup when I fix it), heat until hot and serve. Or you can eat as is.

Tomorrow's Soup of the Day... Ham and Vegetable Soup Base to make Ham Vegetable Chowder

Black Bean Soup with Ham

1 lb. bag of dried black beans 

2 med. Onions, one halved and one finely diced. 

4 carrots diced 

3-4 cloves garlic, minced 

1 any hot pepper seeded and diced (optional) 

2 ½ quarts of chicken stock

2 cups ham diced 

2 tsp. ground cumin 

3 tsp. kosher salt (adjust to taste) 

1 ½ tsp. fresh ground black pepper 

½ tsp. cayenne pepper (optional) 

2 tsp. Mexican Oregano 

Sort, and wash beans. Soak overnight in bowl with enough water to cover by 3 inches. Drain, rinse and put in a pot, cover with cold water by 3 in. Add the onion cut in half. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer for 30 min. In another pot combine chicken stock, spices and vegetables. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes until heated through. Strain beans, discard liquid and onion. 

Strain stock, reserve vegetable and stock. In a hot pint or quart jar fill ¼ full of beans, add ¼ cup vegetables and ham add stock leaving 1 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles adjust level to 1 inch, wipe rim and add lid. Pressure can pints for 75 minutes, quarts for 90 min. at 10 lbs. or on 11 on dial gauge. Makes about 6-7 pints or 3-4 quarts.

Tomorrow's Soup of the Day... another Black Bean Soup

15 Bean Soup with Ham 

Margarita Joy ­Gangestad 

6 jars of 15 bean soup with ham:

1/2 cup dried beans (15 bean mix from grocery store) (I like mine soupy) per quart jar, 

1 packet of seasoning from bag divided between six jars

Cubes of ham (as much as you like per jar)

1/2 cup chopped onions per jar,
1/8 to 1/4 cup chopped green peppers per jar,

1 small can tomato paste divided 6 ways,
1/2 Tbsp chopped garlic,
1/2 Tbsp cumin,
1 quart jar of chicken vegetable stock divided 6 ways

Water to fill to 1 inch headspace

Can for 90 minutes at pounds for your area

Tomorrow's Soup of the Day... Autumn Harvest Soup