Southern Plantation Lima Beans

Total Time: 2 hrs 40 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 1 lb dried lima beans
• 1/2 lb rind from a baked ham or 1/2 lb bacon
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 3 -4 dashes liquid smoke (optional)
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Recipe

• 1 sift through the beans for “foreign bodies” and rinse.
• 2 in a stock pot, cover the beans with 2 inches of water and soak for 4-5 hours.
• 3 chop the baked ham rind to about 1/4 inch squares.
• 4 if you use bacon, cook it off about three quarters of the way to render out some of the fat and drain well before chopping.
• 5 (reserve the fat for the roux later, at your option!) drain the soaking water, add the meat to the beans and cover with water by about 2 inches.
• 6 bring the beans to a slow boil, add the liquid smoke, salt and pepper, cover and reduce the heat to a low simmer until tender.
• 7 (from 45 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the beans and the heat so check them often.) when the beans are nearly tender, in a small sauce pan, mix the flour and oil (you can use the leftover bacon fat) and heat, mixing until bubbling.
• 8 because of the variable of how much water is left in the beans, i’ve found it’s better to thicken the sauce backwards.
• 9 start spooning bean water into the roux to thicken it to a paste (like thin mashed potatoes) then adding the paste back into the beans a tablespoon at a time, and stirring to the desired thickness.
• 10 keep in mind it won’t fully thicken until it comes to a boil and it may take a few tries to get it how you want it.
• 11 serve in a large bowl topped with the chopped pecans.
• 12 any leftovers will freeze.