Bean soup - the ultimate comfort food when paired with a wedge of cornbread - yum! Today would have been Mom's 68th birthday and I recall making pots of pinto beans cooked with ham hocks (if we could afford them) and making a pan of cornbread in Meemaw's old iron skillet.
Meemaw was Granny's mom and was famous for knocking the handles off her cast iron skillets. The name Meemaw comes from the fact that I was 2 and couldn't say Great-Grandmother, so Meemaw it was. Happy Birthday, Mom - glad you're having it with Grandad, Granny, Uncle Paul and the rest of the family.
To make a pot of soup:
1 bag Trader Joe's 17 Bean and Barley Soup mix
1 medium onion, diced
1 1/2 cups diced celery
1 1/2 cups diced carrots (I cheat and cut up baby carrots - the rabbit will forgive me)
2 cloves minced garlic (I use 2 tsp of the pre-minced - but you can also use dried minced garlic)
1 cup frozen corn kernels (optional)
3 bay leaves
1 1/2 tsp Mrs Dash Table blend
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 - 3/4 cup uncooked brown rice
1 - 12 oz bottle beer (I've used Octoberfest and Amber Bock or a plain old beer)
32 oz chicken, vegetable (or ham stock from pressure cooking ham bones left from a spiral sliced ham)
1 1/2 - 2 cups water
1 package Country Ham trimmings (12 oz, I believe)
1/2 tsp pepper
Directions:
FYI, I use my electric pressure cooker to make beans now because I can go from rock hard beans to the most awesome soup in about an hour from start to finish (not including prep time for vegetables). I'll start with stovetop directions and follow with the pressure cooker method. (Sidebar: I've also used the pressure cooker to cook red beans for chili rather than buying canned ones. It's somewhat more economical - plus you know what's in there.)
There are 2 ways to start. . .
One, rinse bean mix in a colander and put into a pot, add water until beans are covered by 2-3 inches and let soak overnight. Drain beans and continue with cooking directions.
Two, is a better method. Rinse bean mix in a colander, put into a pot and cover with water. Bring to a rolling boil; boil for 2 minutes. Keep covered, remove from heat, let sit for 2 hours. Drain beans and resume recipe preparation.
In a large soup pot, combine everything together - you will need to cut up the ham somewhat, cover with lid and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a medium simmer and cook soup for 2 - 4 hours (until beans are tender). Do not add any salt to soup until after it has finished cooking - otherwise your beans will never get tender. Gently smash some of the beans against the side of the pot to thicken soup if desired. Makes a good 12 or so servings of soup. Try to fish out the bay leaves before serving. If you like a little spice - add a few drops of hot sauce.
Note: If you don't love country ham or can't find it - substitute about 1 1/2 cups smoked ham, diced or 2 ham hocks (remove after cooking and chop the meat up to add back into the soup) or even use the meat from a smoked turkey leg (for a healthy alternative to pork).
Pressure Cooking
I use a 6 qt electric pressure cooker. I combine everything together just like above, set it for high pressure, time it for 45 minutes, make sure the quick release valve is closed and walk away. The unit will get up to pressure, cook for 45 minutes and then go into "keep warm" mode. Sometimes I use the quick release method to reduce pressure, but I usually let the pressure reduce on it's own.
You could also use a very large slow cooker - be sure to soak or quick soak beans first and then let it cook for a really long time (8-12 hours). Low and slow can make some really good soup - basically cook the soup until it reaches the tenderness that you want for your beans.
Healthy Info:The part I love about this soup, is that you have 1/2 to 1 day's worth of your daily fiber intake, plus it's good for you. I do tend to serve cornbread with it (umm, that's another day), but that's because of my roots. Growing up, we had pinto beans and cornbread - it wasn't called soup and was only 1 kind of bean, but at least I learned an appreciation for beans.
Enjoy!
PS: If you don't live near a Trader Joe's Neighborhood Market - No Worries! Here's how you do it:
Bean Soup Mix:1 pound bag each: baby lima, black beans, blackeye peas, dark red kidney, garbanzo, lentils, split peas, large lima beans, navy beans, pink beans, small red beans
2 pound bag each: great northern beans, pinto beans
16 oz pearl barley
Dump each bag o'beans onto a sheet pan, remove rocks and any truly nasty looking beans. Keep moving them around so you get a look at them all. Dump beans from sheet pan into a large mixing bowl or bag. Repeat for each bag of beans. Granny called this "looking them over" and it's not a step you want to skip because there are rocks and other debris you really don't want to have in your soup.
Next, add the barley and thoroughly mix or shake to combine. Divide into 16 - (roughly) 1 pound portions. You can vacuum seal them into bags or jars. Give some away as gifts or keep them all to yourself. Vacuum sealing will give them a shelf life of 2 years.