SOUP/ BEAN SOUP
BY W.T. RICKETTS
Bean Soup would be a "warming" choice
for lunch.
Joan remembers Dad's rhyme... "Beans, beans are good for your heart, the more you eat, the more you..." well you get the picture. Dad is quite a character and so was Momma. Rosie, Joan and Terry sang in the church choir and had choir practice every Wednesday evening. It seemed without doubt, in the wintertime, Momma would make a big pot of bean soup and go figure...it was usually on a Wednesday. Sitting at the dinner table before choir practice, Dad would recite his little rhyme...beans, beans are good for your heart. While sitting at choir practice my stomach would get to rumbling and of course Dad's rhyme would be the first thing that would come to my mind. I don't know how much singing I did. I sure did a lot of fretting through that very long hour of choir practice, hoping not to complete Dad's rhyme in front of the whole choir! Bet I wasn't alone though...Rosie and Terry had eaten bean soup too!
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| Bubbling hot bean soup will warm you right up! |
Momma did make some delicious bean soup. This is how Dad likes it...
Ingredients:
3/4 bag of dried navy beans
1 small onion (finely chopped)
1/2 cup carrots (finely chopped)
1 hunk of country ham for seasoning
1 tsp. celery salt
Some brands of dried beans don't require that you go through the next few steps...just check your package and follow their directions for prepping beans.
Here's what we do:
Wash and rinse beans in cold water. Go through the beans really well as sometimes in the picking and processing of dried beans, a little pebble or stone might slip in the bag. Rinse beans again.
Put beans in cold water and soak for two hours. Rinse one more time.
Put beans in cold water and soak for two hours. Rinse one more time.
In a large pot, place soaked beans, four cups of water, onion, carrot, salt and pepper to taste and the hunk of country ham.
Cook slowly, until the beans are soft, for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Check the pot for sticking and stir occasionally.
Serve with hot corn bread, biscuits or your favorite bread.
Special Note: Joan likes to add dried Lima beans or the Great Northern Beans along with the Navy Beans.
