Every year, after the Christmas ham is decimated, I make ham and bean soup using the 15 bean soup mix marketed by Hurst. This year, the grocery store had the Cajun style, and a lentil mix, and a pasta and bean blend, but not the basic 15 bean mixture. So I bought the store brand mix, and went to the Hurst [url+www.hambeens.com] website to get the recipe from the back of the bag. My beans have soaked, they are simmering with the hambone, and I finish reading the recipe…add contents of the ham seasoning packet just before the end of the cooking time. I don’t have a ham seasoning packet. I have the onion, garlic, lemon juice, stewed tomatoes, salt, pepper and chili powder all ready to go, but since I bought the store brand…no seasoning packet.
So does anyone know what is in this seasoning packet that I could add on my own? Will I miss the flavor it brings? I have 2-1/2 hours before I need to add something to the soup. Help!
Sounds like it’s gonna be great soup without adding anything else. I’m starting to wonder what’s in the seasoning packet, that it could add more flavor than you’re already getting.
Probably things like celery salt, oregano, maybe a teeny bit of cumin etc. At least those were some of the things I tasted last time I had 15 bean soup. (Not counting the garlic, onion, lemon and pepper in there.) I’ll hunt around and see if I can find a recipie with seasonings and link it here.
I found a bean soup recipe that included a tiny bit of cloves or allspice. Maybe try it in a bit of the broth and see if that mimics the flavor from the seasoning packet.
I’m getting hungry for bean soup now, but the only meat I have laying around is chorizo sausage. Hmmmmm.
Ok, here are threerecipes that I consulted. In common, two of them have tomatoes, celery of some kind, parsley, cumin, bay leaf. All 3 have red pepper/chili powder in common, one adds rosemary, and I saw some chicken bouillon cubes in one too. Good luck, sounds like you’re going to have a yummy supper.
I’ve bought ham flavored seasoning packets before, they are like a bouillion cube, only in a little foil package instead. I found them in the Mexican food section at my supermarket. Since you have the ham bone in there, it is likely you won’t miss the packet at all.
I went back to the website and checked the nutritional info for the 15 bean soup, and the seasoning packet ingredients were listed as: Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Maltodextrin, Salt, Artificial Flavorings (Including artificial smoke flavor), Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed and Soybean Oil, Silicon Dioxide (Added less than 2% as an anti-caking agent. Then I checked out their FAQ’s, and they said in the event of a seasoning packet being missing, add some beef or chicken bouillion in place of the water. But from the ingredients, it seems like the most powerful and noticeably missing flavor would be the smoke. I’ll see if I have any Liquid Smoke sitting around, though it is probably ten years old.
Good idea. Until I got to this post, I was going to suggest adding the liquid smoke, and some MSG. Also a little vegemite if you have it. That is what does it for my 15 bean soup.
I knew I should have bought that Vegemite at World Market last week! No Liquid Smoke, so I threw in some bouillion. And can’t get out to the store just now…but since this gets added at the last minute, I can always add a bit to the leftovers, of which there will be plenty. Time to start the cornbread…the onions, etc are in.
