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Right now as I am writing this e-mail, I have a large ham bone from New Year's Day dinner boiling in my slow cooker. I'm making Navy Bean Soup which is one of the many ways my family used beans as part of their meals.
So as I'm putting all the ingredients together, I remember how my mother could stretch her grocery budget each week with beans. Especially when meat prices were so high here in the United States during the mid-1970s. Whether red kidney beans in chili, or split peas in soup ... beans are a good source of protein.
Did you know there are over 40,000 varieties of beans and that we only consume a mere fraction of those types available? My favorite beans are navy beans, great northern, and pinto!
So my recipe for Navy Bean Soup? Well there really isn't one since I like to be flexible .... here's the best I can do:
- In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, fry one onion, chopped, in a little butter or olive oil. Add black pepper and some dried thyme.
- Once the onion is soft, add a ham bone and cook for about 10 minutes, turning the bone once or twice.
- Cover with water and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook for 1 hour.
- Remove bone, let cool, and remove any ham left. Chop and add to the stock. Also look through the stock for any pieces of ham rind or grizzle and remove.
- Add 2 cups (1 pound) of navy beans (or your preferred white bean). Beans should already been cooked. I do the quick cook method: cook 2 cups beans in 8 cups boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cover. Let sit for 1 hour. Drain and then use them in your recipe.
- Simmer the soup for several hours on low, adding other ingredients as you like. You can add 1 can of tomato puree but I don't add anything else!
And you know I can't leave without mentioning that song about beans many of us sang as kids ... much to the consternation of our parents!
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