Searching for best white bean recipe

I medium onion, fine diced
1/2 bell pepper, fine diced
2 stalks celery, fine diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, with seeds, minced
2 bay leaves
1t each dried thyme, oregano and basil
2 green onions, sliced thin
3T minced flat leaf parsley
1 lb dry Great Northern beans
1 or 2 smoked hocks
6 cups + of water or ham stock
2 or 3 T oil
Salt and pepper( black and red) to taste


Heat the oil in a good heavy pot. Add the onions and sweat well. Then add the bell pepper and celery. After those are translucent, add the bay leaves and dry herbs and a little salt and pepper.

After another minute or so, add the stock, hock and the beans...bring to a boil, and then simmer. Lid it and stir every 10 minutes or so for an hour and a half, or until the beans begin to break a bit. Add more stock in the process if the dish gets too thick.

Adjust salt and pepper to taste, add the green onions and parsley, stir a minute or so, and serve.

I usually have a little Tasso, andouille or good smoked sausage in there, too. And I never cook less than two or more times that recipe.

This looks good!

Mine is pretty much like that except I don't put jalapeños but I might next time. And I prefer navy pea beans in lieu of great northerns.

I add butter at the end as I do in red beans. I also add, occasionally a nice rosemary sprig the last twenty minutes then discard. Nice flavor. Or a pinch of cinammon. A totally different flavor.

I have found since I invested in a pressure cooker that the quality of my white beans has skyrocketed.

I usually make a ham stock first in the pressure pot and this step only takes 30 minutes. The pressure increases the extraction of flavors from the hocks and aromatics added to the pot.

I usually soak great northern beans and change the water a few times. Saute trinity and then add meat from the hocks and ham stock to the pot and season. If I want it with a little more spice, I also add some andoille from Wayne Jacob's Smokehouse in LaPlace.

It only takes about 35 minutes to cook presoaked whitebeans in the pressure cooker.

You should get one.