Ham & Bean Soup

We've had a stretch of chilly, rainy days this week and I knew it was time to make some Ham & Bean Soup.  I keep this simple by using Hurst's HamBeans brand 15-Bean Soup Mix, but I make it more like Ham & Beans than the recipe that appears on the bag.  Which I think basically means that I leave out the tomatoes that are in the recipe on the bag.  I also usually toss the seasoning packet.  

I don't follow a precise recipe, but here's how I tend to make this yummy soup:

First I prepare the dried beans as directed on the package.  I've done the long soak and quick soak methods and both work beautifully.  Once the beans are softened, I move on to putting the soup together.

When using the quick cook method or soaking overnight, I drain off the water the beans have been soaking in.  I don't know if that is considered wasteful, but the water is dark and murky and it holds zero visual appeal.  

Anyway (and either way - long soak or quick soak), to the drained softened beans I add 10 cups of water (this time I added some chicken stock I had leftover in the fridge).  If I have a ham bone, I add that to the pot at this time, bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and let this simmer for about an hour. 

During this time, I saute a chopped onion, several cloves of garlic, and cut-up some carrots and ham pieces.  I don't measure.  I like lots of these things, so I just put in what looks pretty to me. 

After an hour, I remove the ham bone and clean off as much ham as I can, adding that back to the pot along with more chopped-up ham, the sauteed onions and garlic, and chopped carrots.  I bring this to a boil again, stir, then turn heat down to low, cover and simmer for 40-60 minutes longer, coming back as often as I think to to stir it again - at least every 15 minutes.  If this cooks down too much, I will add more water and more seasoning (salt, pepper, bullion) to taste.

Serve with any kind of bread, and this is one healthy and hearty feast.

Mmmmm Mmmmm Good!

Unless I'm sharing this with others, I package up at least half of a pot of this for the freezer to enjoy later; and hubs and I eat off the freshly made soup for a couple of days.  It gets better each time I pull some out of the fridge to heat it up.  😊  

Potato Leek Soup...

Having received an immersion blender for Christmas (or rather...  having gifted myself one for Christmas), I'm thrilled with what a great tool is for for making creamy goodies like Potato Leek Soup.  In fact, it's such a great tool, and this is such a good recipe, I've made this soup three times now since the beginning of the year.

There are numerous and similar recipes online, but I started with this recipe found at Once Upon a Chef  and adapted it to what I had on hand.  Giving credit to the original creator of this recipe, I record here how I made this soup so I can easily find it again.  If  you make it (or follow the recipe linked to above) I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Potato Leek Soup

Ingredients:

3 Tbs butter
2 to 4 good size leeks    
3 cloves garlic (minced)
2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes - peeled and cut up 
7-8 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1 tsp powdered Thyme 
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper (approx)
Chicken Bouillon (if desired)
Heavy Cream (~ 1 Tbs per bowl)


Notes:  

• The original recipe calls for 4 large leeks, but I just use whatever comes in a bundle - typically I get 2 or 3 leeks in a bundle.

• I sometimes mix other potatoes with Yukon Gold

• Original recipe calls for 3 sprigs fresh thyme - dried, powdered thyme is what I had

• I almost always end up adding some chicken boullion to my soup after blending it.  I don't know if you'll think it needs more, but this heightens the flavor for me.  I could just have poorly trained taste buds. Don't add it before tasting.

Instructions:

If you're not familiar with cleaning leeks, here's a quick video tutorial - I prefer to cut them in half lengthwise and clean them before chopping them up.  I clean and chop leaks about an inch into the dark green stalk.  And being a plumber's daughter, who's sometimes learned the hard way that Dad was right, let me advise you...  dump the sandy, dirty water outside - not down your kitchen drain.

Melt butter over low heat in soup pot.  Add the leeks and garlic.  Cook, stirring so nothing browns.  This takes 10 - 15 minutes.  

Add the potatoes, broth, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper to pot and bring to a boil.  Stir, turn heat down to low and simmer for about 30 minutes (or until potatoes are very soft).

Remove the bay leaves (and sprigs of thyme if using fresh), then puree with an immersion blender until smooth.  At this point, the soup can be cooled and frozen for future use.  To eat now, read on:

Ladle soup into bowls, then add about 1 tablespoon of heavy cream to each bowl and stir.  If needed, nuke in microwave for 30 seconds to heat back up after adding cream.

Soup can be frozen without cream.  Just thaw, reheat, and add cream to hot soup.

This soup is great alone or with a light sandwich.  Very filling.


 

Sausage Lentil Soup - Carrabba's copycat

We ate at Carrabba's for the first time this winter and I had some Sausage and Lentil Soup as a first course.   Honestly, soup isn't something I normally order at a restaurant for some reason, but maybe it came with a meal.  I don't know.  All I remember for sure is there were two soup choices, the waiter recommend their Sausage and Lentil Soup, I said okay.  

It was more than okay.  It was delicious!  At home, I went looking for a similar recipe and found numerous ones online.  They don't vary much from each other, so I chose one that looked the most straight forward.  The recipe I used (and adapted) can be found here: Sausage Lentil Soup by Boos Mom.  

I've typed out the recipe below because there are some measurements that didn't make it into the original recipe.  I also made some minor changes.  If you try it, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Sausage and Lentil Soup (like Carrabba's)

1 lb ground Italian Sausage
1 large onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
7 cups chicken broth
2 (14 1/2 oz) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
2-3 garlic cloves (minced)
1 tsp salt
2 cups dry lentils 
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp thyme
1-2 bay leaves

Note: I used dried spices

Saute vegetables in small amount of olive oil 'till they begin to soften.  Set aside.

Brown Italian sausage and drain.  

In a large pot combine sausage and sauteed vegetables.  Add remaining ingredients.

Bring to a simmer.  Stirring off and on, simmer in open pot for 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

Remove bay leaves before serving.

Hubs sprinkled some shredded cheese in his, but I liked this with nothing more added to mine. 

This soup freezes great.  In fact, today we finished off what I froze when I first made this in January.  It was just as delicious as when first served.  I'm not an eater of super spicy foods, but this has a perfect amount of kick for us.  If you'd prefer it less spicy, I imagine using less red pepper flakes would help to manage that.

We enjoyed ours today with some grilled cheese sandwiches made with sliced Everything French Bread.  Mmmmm.