Enjoy the warmth you're feeling today -- that Christmas glow won't last. The holiday spirit will fade in a couple of days and then it will hit -- it's winter! Time for scarves, gloves, long johns, boots and bean soup. Growing up, my brothers and I relished bean-soup night -- a frequent cold-weather event when Dad took over the stove and rustled up a large pot brimming with white beans, chunks of vegetables and a meaty hambone.
We swilled down this hearty concoction with delight while Dad pontificated about the virtues of the noble dried bean. Dad's familiar stories of the Great Depression glorified beans in no uncertain terms. Prone to exaggeration, he'd try to convince us that his nine-member family could dine like kings for a total of five cents.
We were never sure of Dad's figures, but we knew we loved the delicacy filling our soup bowls, lovingly dubbed "slumgullion."
Although more expensive than in my father's recollections, bean soup still can be an enormous bargain. Beans can be the basis for a one-dish meal that combines high nutritional content with delicious taste. Naturally low in fat and high in soluble fiber, beans (and other legumes) are the best plant source of protein.
In Dad's day, bean soup was enriched with a piece of fatty salt pork as well as a hambone. The salt pork, a salt-cured portion of a pig's belly or side, provided plenty of calories for his family to burn while performing essential farm chores. In my Updated White Bean Soup recipe, I've eliminated the salt pork by using a leaner-style hambone. Shops that specialize in spiral-cut hams sell flavorful and meaty hambones that are on the lean side. For a more meaty taste, I often add slices of fully cooked turkey kielbasa (smoked Polish) sausage, as well.
Often, I include carrots, leeks, potatoes, cabbage and green beans, but the vegetables vary according to what is in the vegetable bin.
A crispy, cheesy bread crouton makes a great accompaniment for this soup.
Comfort food? You bet.
UPDATED WHITE BEAN SOUP
3/4 cup dried Great Northern white beans
13 cups water
1 to 1 1/2 pounds meaty hambone (from a fully cooked, cured ham)
2 large carrots, sliced
optional: 1 turnip, peeled and chopped
optional: 1 large leek, white and light green part only, washed and chopped
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons salt
4 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
optional: 1/2 pound turkey kielbasa sausage, cut in half lengthwise and sliced
2 baking potatoes (such as russet), peeled and diced
optional: about 20 green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 to 2 cups shredded cabbage
salt and white pepper to taste
optional garnish: minced fresh parsley or small sprigs of fresh Italian parsley
Parmesan croutons (recipe follows)
Place beans in colander and rinse in cold water. Place beans in large pot and add 3 cups water; bring to boil. Boil for 2 minutes; remove from heat and allow to rest, covered, for 1 hour. Drain beans and return to pot. Add 10 cups of water and hambone.
Bring to boil; reduce to a simmer and cook, partially covered, for 45 minutes. Add carrots, turnip (if using), leek (if using), onion and salt. Simmer, partly covered, for 30 minutes.
Add thyme, sausage (if using), potatoes, green beans (if using) and cabbage; simmer, partly covered, until vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Taste soup and add salt and pepper as needed.
Presentation: Cut any remaining ham off the hambone and cut into bite-size pieces; discard bone. Ladle soup into soup bowls and sprinkle with chopped parsley or a small sprig of Italian (flat-leafed) parsley. Top with a Parmesan crouton (recipe follows) or serve croutons on side. Makes 8 servings.
PARMESAN CROUTON
butter or margarine
10 slices of French baguette (or 5 slices of French bread, cut in half)
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
dash of ground red pepper (cayenne)
Butter 1 side of each slice of bread. Place in a single layer on baking sheet, butter-side up. Broil until nicely browned. Remove baking sheet from oven and turn bread over. In a small bowl, combine egg yolk, cheese and ground red pepper; stir to blend.
Spread cheese mixture on top of each piece of bread (untoasted side); place under broiler. Broil until cheese is melted and top is nicely browned, about 2 minutes. Place crouton on top of soup or serve on the side.