Off work the last few days, I've been watching cooking shows that I usually don't see.

[Arkansas Granny]

I just saw a rerun of an Emeril show where he made white beans and ham hock. Good stuff.

At the end he showed how they would serve the dish in the south. He ladled everything out onto a large platter and brought it to the table.

Now, I ask you folks, have you ever seen a pot of beans served on a platter? A serving bowl, maybe, but most often right out of the pot they were cooked in.

[Laelth]

1. No. Never on a platter. The beans cool down too quickly that way.

Always in a deep bowl (to conserve the heat) or straight from the pot, and the beans are the last thing served up ... again, to conserve their heat.

-Laelth

[Arkansas Granny]

3. Not only that, but what about the yummy bean juice?

[Laelth]

5. That too. Got a roll handy? Yum. n/t

-Laelth

[Polly Hennessey]

2. On a platter?

Wouldn’t it be messy and spill over. I’ll take a soup tureen. White beans and ham hocks, now I have a craving.

[Arkansas Granny]

4. Me too. A craving without the fixings. Sad.

[procon]

6. I've always served beans out of the pot which

I keep on a low heat so they stay nice and hot. The best part of beans is to warm up your innards on a cold day so forget the platters and the fancy tureens and ladle those beans straight into a huge soup mug.

Having always put smoked ham hocks or neck bones in my beans I switched to smoked turkey a few years ago. Same great smoky flavor, looks the same, good aroma and a lot more usable meat, but a lot less waste and it's less work to pull out the edible meat. Turkey is cheaper too so Why was I paying for all those useless bones, the inedible skin and tons of fat?

A big ham bone is still welcome, but now I prefer turkey wings or legs. Give it a try. Cook it the same way you would a ham hock and you'll never go back to hocks.

[Arkansas Granny]

7. I have used the smoked turkey wings and you're right. It's a great

substitute for ham hocks and you get a lot more meat.

[mitch96]

8. Beans and Legumes are so SO good for you.. Resistant starch, intestinal flora and all that jazz

What? no rice??.. gotta have rice... Oh and hot sauce.. Franks? McIlhenny's Tabasco? Homebrew sauce?
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[Arkansas Granny]

9. An all time favorite in our house: pinto beans, fried potatoes and cornbread.

You can serve that as a meal for company around these parts and not get any complaints.

[mitch96]

11. Sounds Delicious. Anything with corn bread is ok by me...nt

[Frustratedlady]

10. I love ham/beans on buttered bread that is several days old.

The sauce has to be perfect. It is my comfort food.

I also add a tablespoon of soda to the water when it first starts boiling and the skins open up a bit. The water will turn green, but the gas will be non-existent if you do it at the right time. You then drain the water off the beans, rinse them and fill the pot of rinsed beans with water again to finish cooking. Once they start simmering, add the ham hocks.

Also, when growing up, our school cafeteria served home-cooked food which included ham and beans every month or so. They also served cornbread with hot Karo syrup poured over it. I learned later that the syrup breaks up any gas in the system, so they apparently did it to cut down on the passing of gas during class. The boys were probably disappointed by this trick.

[Warpy]

12. Agreed, they're too sloppy to serve on a platter

Maybe it was an especially deep one he used when he was in the restaurant biz, presentation pizazz and all that.