Wanda’s Stewed Cranberry Beans

Ingredients

• 4 cups shelled fresh cranberry or borlotti beans (about 2½ pounds in the pod)
• 8 ounces ham or 4 ounces country ham, cut into small chunks
• Salt
• Hide ingredients for Southern Corn Bread 1 Southern Corn Bread (opens in new tab) Southern Corn Bread
  • 1 ¾ cups (280g) fine cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
  • (1 tablespoon [10g] sugar)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ cups (365g) buttermilk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon bacon fat, lard, oil, or vegetable shortening
  • Butter

  Sub-recipe steps

  1. Whisk together thoroughly in a large bowl: 1 ¾ cups (280g) fine cornmeal, preferably stone-ground; (1 tablespoon [10g] sugar); 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon salt
  2. Whisk together in another bowl: 1 ½ cups (365g) buttermilk; 2 large eggs
  3. Add the buttermilk mixture to the cornmeal mixture and whisk just until blended. Take the skillet out of the oven and add to it: 1 tablespoon bacon fat, lard, oil, or vegetable shortening
  4. Swirl to coat the skillet with the fat and pour in the batter all at once. Bake until the top is browned and the center feels firm when pressed, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve immediately from the skillet, cut into wedges or squares, along with: Butter
  5. Leftovers, though dry, are nice enough if wrapped in foil and rewarmed in a low oven. Megan likes to crumble leftover corn bread into a tall glass and pour buttermilk over it. Think of it as Southern breakfast cereal.
• Southern-Style Greens