Savory Butter Beans

We made this recipe using dry butter beans (lima beans), since fresh butter beans are not available in Wisconsin. Broad beans work well too. These beans are tasty either way, but according to the Doctor of Butterbeans, fresh ones have great color...

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4 Cups fresh butter beans, washed
2 TB butter
1 shallot, finely minced
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced, or 3⁄4 tsp.
dry minced garlic covered with 2 tsp.
water and rehydrated 5 minutes
1⁄2 Cup andouille sausage, chopped (1 sausage)
1⁄2 Cup smoked ham, chopped
5 Cups water, approximately
1 tsp. dry savory leaves (1 TB fresh)
8-10 whole green peppercorns
1 tsp. ham soup base
salt and pepper to taste

If using dry beans, soak 3⁄4 of a 1 lb. bag in a deep bowl covered with cold water overnight. You can also use the whole bag and just increase all the other recipe ingredients by 1⁄4. In a 2-3 quart saucepan, melt the butter and gently saute the shallot and garlic until soft. Add the ham and the sausage and gently saute, adding 1⁄2 cup water if necessary to prevent burning. Add the butter beans and enough water to fully cover the beans. We used 5 cups of water total, but it might vary depending on the size of the pan and your beans. Add savory, green peppercorns and ham base. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender and the water is reduced to form a broth.  Stir carefully once the beans start getting soft so they don’t get broken. About halfway through cooking, taste and add salt and pepper to taste. We added 1⁄2 tsp. both salt and ground black pepper. Can be served over rice or as a side dish.  Add hot sauce to taste.

Yields: 1 good-sized bowl of beans.
Prep. time: 10 minutes chopping plus soaking time if you use dry beans.
Cooking time: 2-3 hours.