Over the summer my family made our nearly-annual trip to New England. On the last day we had a delicious lunch at a restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island called Succotash. After a week of coastal seafood it was the perfect transition back to home, with their interesting take on Southern fare. My only complaint was that they didn’t actually feature their namesake dish on the menu. It was a confusing choice considering that succotash is popular not just in the South but throughout the Northeast and it’s pretty easy to make.
This recipe would have been more timely at the height of gardening season but to be honest, I usually make it with frozen vegetables and it turns out just fine. Apologies in advance for the poor photos, but I did this on the fly and I have yet to master the art of food photography.
Ingredients
18 oz lima beans
18 oz sweet yellow corn
1/2 pound of country ham cubed
chopped white onions or pearl onions to taste
3-4 teaspoons of ham-flavored broth base
black pepper
How-To
Start by cooking the ham in a skillet for a few minutes on medium heat. If it has some fat on it, allow it to render down as much as possible. You can augment this if necessary by dipping into your jar of bacon fat that all good cooks keep in the fridge (just like grandma did).
After 5-6 minutes, add your lima beans. Allow these to cook for another 7-8 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent them from sticking. At this point add your corn and onions and mix well. It should look something like this.
I then add a generous amount of pepper and my secret weapon. Ham-flavored broth base can sometimes be hard to find but it’s awesome with any green vegetables.
After adding the base I mix in about a 1/2 cup of water to activate and cover.
I allow this to cook for 8-10 minutes until the lima beans are really tender and the water has been absorbed. I also like everything to get a little brown on it for color and flavor. And that’s it. The finished product is a great side dish, or if you live below the Mason Dixon line it’s a solid addition to your meat and three.
This is a wildly different succotash than I’m familiar with and you’ve piqued my interest. The one that I ate as a kid always had just lima beans and corn, and the broth was actually a cream/butter/milk thing. I was occasionally babysat by a woman in her 80s and she made it for me – it was a master’s work. Long live Ina Jaffe.
Also: thanks for posting this.Report
Sam,
I’m not surprised that the recipe you grew up with was different. There are so many variations on this dish. From the little bit of research i did before writing the post it appears that lima beans are the most universal ingredient but even then some people don’t use them. When I was a kid we had a relative that would mix corn and green beans and call is succotash.Report
I never knew ham broth existed. Unfortunately, I doubt there’s enough ham broth in the world to render lima beans edible to me.Report
Michelle,
My wife feels the same way.Report
Walmart has it, though I’ve never noticed it before (the price listed is for six jars).Report
I assume you’ve had fresh lima beans, not just frozen. I didn’t use to think much of lima beans until I had fresh ones.Report
Do you use fresh corn, canned corn or frozen corn for your corn component?Report
North – I usually use frozen but any version will do.Report
I like succotash, although it’s a bit heavy on the carbos for me, but I’ve recently read about “charred corn”, and I made that. It too is heavy on carbos but, well it’s got cream in it and bacon.
I wasn’t aware of the ham base stuff. Is this a southern thing? As a good southern boy, I’d be ashamed to admit I was unaware of it. This recipie looks quite good. Might have to try it.Report
Those lima beans… frozen? Canned? dried?Report
Any kind of limas are fine Kim. For this receipe I used frozen.Report
Can you give any lima bean substitutions?
From my childhood:
With fork in hand and tongue in cheek, my eyes projecting hate
I glower at the lima beans remaining on my plate.
Oh! hideous lima bean obscene, awash in salt in butter
My stomach turns, my psyche churns with thoughts I dare not utter.
But there you sit. And I must eat. Although I feel mistreated,
There’s one thing worse than lima beans– It’s lima beans reheated.Report
*applauds*
Though I have no beef with the lima bean,
your little poem is quite supreme.Report
Angela,
Love the poem! If you like other beans you can substitute for those (I sometimes do half lima, half butter beans.)Report
That’s a great looking picture, and an interesting recipe.Report