Navy Bean and Ham soup, done in the "Lodge" dutch oven. Cold and Rainy here today, in the 40s. Soup seemed to be the way to go. Sooo Good.

Yum. I plan on making soup this weekend. Not sure what but I have yet to find the proper bean here in Korea to do ham and bean soup.

Looks delicious!

Looks tasty!

I made one yesterday for me & the wife:

I steamed 1 sweet potato, 1 red pepper, and 4 or 5 cloves o' garlic. Tossed it in the VitaMix blender with
1 tsp miso paste
1 T chopped ginger
2 T frozen chipotles in adobo sauce
2 T soy sauce (or Bragg's aminos)
3 1/2 cups hot veggie broth

I blended it for about a minute, & we had a hell of a meal. Surprisingly complex, and creamy as all get-out (without any cream).

I ashamed to admit that it came from a diet cleanse book she had, but the damned stuff is so tasty, I don't care if it's healthy!

FC

EdM,

Any dried peas too be had over there?

I made some split pea and ham soup a few weeks ago that turned out yummie!

Very simple to make, dried peas, chicken broth, some onion and diced ham.
Yum Yum!

Virgil B.

Here's the recipe for the soup:

[*]INGREDIENTS:
1 pound dried Navy Beans
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced (I use 3 or 4)
1 large carrot, diced
2 ribs of celery, diced
1 tablespoon fresh sage, crumbled
1 quart low sodium beef broth
4 cups water
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 oz. lean ham steak, cubed ( I use 8 oz)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
Pick over the beans and discard any stones. Soak the beans in cold water for at least 8 hours. Drain and rinse well. Heat the oil in your soup pot, over med-high heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Now add the carrots, celery and sage and cook until all the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Now add the beans, beef stock, water, bay leaf, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and cook until the beans begin to soften, about 1 hour. Add the ham and cook uncovered for about a half hour more, until the beans are soft and the soup has thickened. Serve garnished with Parsley (optional).
This is a really good, hearty soup and pretty easy to make. Enjoy!

My lunch schedule is pretty standard day to day, who I eat with, and where we go is dictated by what day of the week it is.

Tuesday the soup of the day is beef barley at one of the local hole in the wall diners. Some local contractors I often use always take me there and we have soup. Every Tuesday. It is good.

i will make this...i've been needing to work up a go-to bean soup recipe for about 30 yrs...

(i would probably mash up some of those beans for creamy texture and color...)

I didn't print that in the recipe, but that's exactly what I do. I take a potato masher and crush some of the beans into a paste,after they've softened, and mix it back in. It does thicken the broth. You'll love this soup. Get a good smoked ham steak to dice up and that will add another nice flavor. The fresh sage adds so much, too.

I also forgot to mention that potato makes a good thickening agent, too. Just cut up a potato or 2, into chunks, and boil. When the potato is soft, drain and mash. Add the mash to the soup, and you have a nice, thick broth. Although I didn't do it with the soup that is pictured, I prefer the potato thickener. I've read you can also use instant mashed potato to thicken your soup base. I've never tried it, but it should work.

Looks good, I made a smoked turkey noodle.

Here's my favorite bean soup recipe... it's very tasty.


GRANDPA RON'S HEARTY BEAN SOUP
(Makes about 2� quarts-5 generous servings)

1 lb. Great Northern Beans, rinsed well and debris picked out-do not soak overnight
1 lb. Smoked ham hock wrapped thoroughly in cheese cloth
1 lb. Smoked ham steak, cubed �-inch
8 Large cloves of garlic, minced fine
1 Medium+ (large softball size) onion, chopped medium fine
1 Large rib of celery, chopped medium fine (no leaves)
1 Large carrot, washed thoroughly (but not peeled), small cubed (� to � inch)
1 Tablespoon of Frank's Red Hot Cayenne Pepper Sauce (no substitutes)
1 Tablespoon of butter to saut� the onions & garlic-don't allow butter to "brown"
� teaspoon Lowry's Season Salt (taste soup after cooking, you might like more)
1 8 ounce can of Hunt's Tomato Sauce (for color), rinse can with water & add to pot
Water as needed

PREPARATION:
1) In a 4 quart pot, add the ham hock & enough water to completely cover. Cover pot & simmer over low heat for 3-4 hours, add more water (as needed) to keep hocks covered.
2) Pour smoky-flavored ham hock cooking liquid from pot through a fine strainer into a different bowl, save it all for later use.
3) Meanwhile, thoroughly wash the carrot & celery (don't peel the carrot) & chop up all the vegetables. Add the onion, garlic & butter to a 4 quart pot & saut� over medium heat, stirring often, until softened. Garlic becomes bitter if browned so don't over-cook.
4) Remove all fat from the ham steak, cut into �-inch cubes & add to the pot.
5) Add the smoky ham hock liquid, all the veggies, the beans to the pot. Add enough additional cool water (or chicken or beef stock for a "different" flavor) to the ingredients to cover 2 inches above the beans, meat & veggies. Increase heat, bring mixture to a boil, lower heat to a simmer, cover & simmer over low heat for 2� hours, stirring every 20 minutes, then begin checking the beans for doneness every 10 minutes or so. The beans should be done in 2� to 3 hours or so depending on the raw bean's moisture content.
6) When the beans are very slightly under-cooked in their middle & cooked, but still firm on the outside, remove the pot from the stove, uncover & sit it aside to cool, adding enough cool hock liquid (or water or stock) to make the soup the consistency you prefer. If the beans are still slightly "hard" on the outside, simmer the soup slightly longer & re-check the beans. Put the soup into containers & refrigerate or freeze. Reheating the soup later (to eat it) on the stove will complete the bean's cooking process.

NOTE: This recipe can easily be doubled for convenience yielding about 5 quarts. Most soups and Chili tend to become more flavorful if refrigerated over-night or frozen & reheated for later consumption. Doing so allows the flavors to "marry" adding a greater depth of flavor. Often the difference in flavor is surprising. So plan to eat your bean soup for the first time the day after it is made & refrigerated. Freeze the rest for later consumption.

goll darnitt gramps that looks purty good

Yup. Just made a batch of pea soup, and add potato to the pot. When cooked, I like to remove the ham and carrots, then add back in after pureeing everything. Comes out velvety smooth. I like the chunky style, too, but that is how I do mine.

P.S. not sure what is referred to as a "ham steak".

http://www.mycooksham.com/cooking/ham-steak-thick-cut-steak

Thank you...so it's just ham cut in a big hunk

Thick slice of ham.

Yep,,,, just like a Beef Steaks Just a roast cut in a big ol hunk. Costs a little more but they're handy when you don't need a whole ham.
I buy the bone in steaks once in a while. Eat part of it for supper and the rest for breakfast the next day or two.

http://hostedmedia.reimanpub.com/TOH/Images/Photos/37/300x300/exps12078_QC10107C13.jpg

need all ham, large or small

****************************************************************

Thanks, my friend...

Actually, it IS "purty good"... would I "lie" to you??? So give it a "try", ol' buddy !

Ron

Don't know if I could resist adding in some chopped, thick cut smoky bacon...

something I use to thicken soup;

Instant potato flakes. They stir in great with no lumps, and work great!

Virgil B

I made a pot of Pasta e Fa.gioli yesterday

That looks really good. That and a good hunk of Italian bread, and you got a meal. That's a heck of a buck you posted on the "Deer Hunting" forum. I enjoyed the video. Congratulations!

egg yolks and regular left over mashed potatoes work well as thickeners also. Never heard of instant mashed being used.

Will have to give them a try if my roux fails me. Thanks

I love Pasta e Fa.gioli, the whole lot of us ladies love it. It does not last long around here. That looks awesome

With fall setting in and temperatures dropping, soups are on the menu this week, potato leek with bacon, and French Canadian pea soup will be served this week. Looking forward to trying new recipes posted here.

Miss Lynn,

I have never made Pasta e Fa.gioli but it looks good!

I've Googled recipes, and found so many that I can't decide which one to try first. Some are damn near tomato soup with a few beans and a little pasta, others are more like a solid pasta dish with some beans mixed in, and not really enough liquid left to call a soup.

Do you have a favorite recipe you could post?

I have a slow-cooker which I suspect might be good for this -- at least I like the way that kidney beans in other soups become nice and creamy with long slow cooking.

John

Tommy, thanks for this recipe, Im trying it, it really looks good, especially on cold winter days....

Thanks

You'll love it, I guarantee. Sometimes the next day can be a problem if you're in social situations, if you know what I mean. But it is a great cold weather food, as you suggest. When I first started making it, I'd substitute dried sage, for fresh. I never realized how aromatic and flavorful the fresh is. I only use the fresh now. Good food and pretty inexpensive. Glad to pass it on. Enjoy. I saw on the weather channel, the whole country was quiet, weather wise, except for your part. Did you guys get the wet weather they said you would? We dried out for 1 day, and now, back to rain. We needed it, but not this much. Take care.

Have not found any peas either. I did find some lentils so ham and lentils next weekend. I will start a pot of chicken vegetable soup in a couple hours.

I can send you some if that's ok?

I post this about once a year now, great ranch bean recipe, my father in law cooked these for volonteer fireman dinners, county fair, etc for years.
Enjoy:
RANCH BEANS
Use 2 lbs of Pink beans. Soak overnight if you want, I usually will soak for 10 min, and flush, use new water, and start it to a simmer.

Add 2 Lbs of Yellow onions. Chopped

Add 2 Green Bell Peppers (careful not to get too much bell pepper as it can make the beans taste too sweet)

Use 6 cloves of Garlic (or more)

Add 2 Lbs of bacon, fry it, dry it off, or slice uncooked in the pot. Frying it removes alot of greese, and also alot of flavor, your choice.

Add 1 ham hock, maybe 2, I like smoked ham hocks better, but either will work.

Add 6-12 Celery stocks cut in 3/8 to 1/2 pieces.

Add Cumin (start with 2 tablespoons and add to suit your taste)

Add chili powder (same as above, I just keep adding until it suits me, dont get stingy, and dont overdo it....grin)

Salt (season to taste, it's your beans)

Pepper (be careful, dont add too much)

Two large cans of whole tomatoes, maybe three, add juice and all to your beans.

For a cajon taste, add cajon seasoning to taste.

Let cook at a simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours. Dont cook them so long the beans break down.

Enjoy! This is my father in law's recipe. He has cooked them for years at fireman feeds, the county fair, family get togethers, duck s unlimited dinners, etc, they are goooood.

You can freeze them after cooked, and cooled down in large freezer bags and them you can have great beans for dinner at your leasure. We also take them hunting with us. The bears think they are out of this world.....that's another story, and true.

You can cut this recipe in half and it will make a nice large two gallon or so pot of beans.

Try these boys, and I think you will like them. Myself, I have done the bacon either way, and just slicing them up and throwing them in tastes best, but it should, it has all of that bacon grease in it.

Make sure you have enough water, you want at least the upper third of the pot to be liquid. I take a ladle and take one scoop from the bottom for the beans, hocks, etc, and one scoop from the top for the liquid. Makes the best bowl of beans you can eat. My father in law has been invited to everything under the sun just so he can make these beans. I have often seen him making 20 to 30 gallons of these beans for big feeds. He's a bean maker, and this recipe is a winner.

it was pretty weak, at my place, maybe 5/100ths of an inch. Hopefully in the mtns north of Redding they got alot more.

Tommy, I did your navy bean recipe in a dutch oven today at a dutch oven cookout. It really turned out nice.