So this takes awhile because, well.... it's beans and they take some time, but it's so easy peasy as to be ridiculous and the family loved, loved, loved it...
I bought the soup mix somewhere. Zarpentine's Farm Market, maybe? Or somewhere in my travels, scouting out sweet settings for books. There's nothing like playoff time and cold winter Sundays to have soup brewing... bread baking.... and a cozy nap by the fireplace is never a bad thing!
This was what was left of the glorious spiral ham we had last night with a bunch of us here...
Yup. A hank of bone and bits and pieces... But I grabbed me a plateful of pieces to use for the soup. "Waste not, want not...." Use it up, make it do, wear it out!
And we tuck the beans/pea/mix into water and simmer for 30 minutes:
Then we add the meat, I threw in four home-grown chopped carrots, the seasoning mix (a little Cajun/Tex/Mex blend in the packet) and two cans of diced tomatoes. If I'd had time, I'd have canned my own tomatoes this year, but I'd have had to PLANT them first.
Oops.
Okay, back to soup:
Uncle Art Eichas grew these bad boys.... and they have that wonderful taste and texture of real carrots, not grown in sand or water. Whole different ball game when they have to fight for supremacy in real top soil!
We simmer for a while....
Oh my stars, the entire house is scented of some kind of sweet, red Kohl's Candle in the dining room.... and a spicy, herbed scent of bean soup in the kitchen.
This is part of why I love winter. One pot meals, extra writing time, peace and quiet. Around here there is nothing akin to peace and quiet in the summer.... which I LOVE but.... I love this, too.
All is calm. All is bright. And I've got a blanket.!!!
You had me at nap by the fireplace!
ReplyDeleteAnd are those bay leaves? What's the name of the mix? Do you think any kind of bean soup mix would do? Did it call for tomatoes or what that your own idea?
I love white bean soup and ham. Mmmmm....
And naps.
I'll have to check the name..... It wasn't prominent on the bag and I bought it at the farm around the corner. Tomatoes were their idea, and isn't that a wonderful thought??? It was amazing, Virginia. Really delicious, just the right amount of spice. And perfect texture.
Deletewe're back from the 20's to 'civilized' temps in the 50s...can't make up its mind! This would sound so good to me if I weren't so sick of ham! I've never been a huge huge fan(well other than bacon now and then!) and I think I ate ham at least 6 times between Thanksgiving and Christmas- nope- more than that because I had it 3 times Christmas between 3 meals over the holiday- twice at 2 quilt get-togethers, thanksgiving...I DO like beans though and my mom always says the best are the ones with a hamhock or ham in them :-)
ReplyDeleteSusanna
Susanna, you can use any kind of meat in this or go vegetarian. The ham was a leftover so it was a perfect addition. And all I had was that gnarly end and a few tidbits but it was plenty! KAV!!!!! This would be great as is without the ham, darling!!!
Deletebut ham gives the flavor :-( those pieces you had were perfect! my mom would save the end pieces and bone to use.
Deletesusanna
did the beans get soft with the tomatoes in there? coworker gave me a cowboy bean recipe once and it called for Rotel tomatoes and she said not to add them until the beans were already soft or they'd be tough...
ReplyDeleteSusanna
You boil the bean mix for 30 minutes first.... and then you add the other stuff and simmer for hours. And yeah, the beans were nice, not mushy and not firm. Just the way I like 'em!
Deletehmm I think I like them kinda softish - still looking like a bean but making some broth...the cowboy beans were soaking pintos overnight then draining and covering with more water and boiling then adding onion and eckrich sausage then when they're nearly done adding rotel tomatoes for some kick..oh and she sprinkled them with mustard- the powdery kind - when she first started cooking them. might need to make some more!
Deletethis recipe seems tamer but good! have to print it for next fall when I get stuck with all the ham again LOL!
Susanna
Susanna, I always add tomatoes to my pinto beans, right at the beginning, and they never get mushy. ;)
Deletesigh..I'm hungry!
ReplyDeletesusanna
Ruthy, I LOVE winter food. We have to celebrate each season for what it has to offer, and I think you pegged winter nicely. I could almost smell the candle and the beans.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I have yet make a pot of beans this winter. What's wrong with me? I need to do that. They smell so yummy cooking on the stove all day.
Your bean soup looks great. What kind of beans did they use? A mixture or one kind? Your additions were great, by the way. Then again, you are the queen of the Yankee-Belle kitchen. We would expect no less.
Bread... Yes I need to make bread again. My guys love me when I do that. I just tell them I'm channeling Ruthy. Of course, then they give me this weird look and go, "Who?" ;)
So funny, because I followed the mini-packet directions and used no brain cells. Not one. Just braun in chunking up the ham!!! :)
DeleteAh! Bean soup, a fire, playoff games.... Now that sounds like the perfect Sunday afternoon!
ReplyDeleteOne thing about moving a lot is that I've learned beans are very picky when it comes to cooking. My husband likes mushy beans - - no, more than mushy. He likes them completely broken down into bean porridge, and that's fine because it's the way I learned to cook them :)
It takes a few years to adjust to a new environment, though. My poor husband hasn't had his favorite kind of bean soup in a long time.... Maybe I should put it on the menu for next week :)
I like 'em either way. I loved these a little bit firm, it was such an old-fashioned but spicy blend... I'll go to the farm when I get back next week and give the name, but it had just a nice Tex-Mex feel to it. But not too spicy for me!!! Yay!
DeleteI'm somewhere in-between - I don't like total mush but I like them soft and making some juice/gravy-ish type broth - esp great northern. don't like hard ones but soft is ok in my chili...my mom only did the great northern beans that way not the pintos because my dad liked them firm with no mush and he wouldn't eat the great northern regardles so we could have those the way we wanted.
DeleteSusanna
Beans and ham. Lentils too!!! Yummy!~ Now a little cornbread on the side.
ReplyDeleteMmm.... cornbread. I like mine sweet (of course!) and a little "crunchy" on top, like sprinkled with sugar crunchy. I'm such a girl.
DeleteMMmmmm. That just made me so hungry for soup! But I'm doing chicken and dumplings tonight. Will have to buy a bean mix next week! I've got some leftover pork roast I can freeze to use.
ReplyDelete