If you randomly knocked on a few doors tomorrow and asked "What's for Dinner?" there's a very good chance that the answer will be ham. Here in Michigan the answer is likely to be Honey Baked Ham. You've heard of honey glazed and spiral sliced, no? Born in Detroit. Made in Detroit.
And at the end of every ham is a bone with delicious little bits of meat that cry out to be saved from the garbage. While there are a lot of recipes that call for a meaty ham bone, my favorite is a big pot of bean soup. It's still chilly enough in these parts to think about hearty, stick to your ribs soup.
You've all heard me talk about how much Mr. Lear enjoys soup with a nice crusty piece of bread. U.S. Senate bean soup is one of his favorites. This recipe is from the best soup cookbook ever – The Complete Book of Soups and Stews by Bernard Clayton, Jr. I've owned the book for 17, or 18, years and have made almost every recipe, most more times than I could count. The results are always fabulous.
But before we get to the recipe itself, a few words about prepping the dried beans. I've never met a bean that didn't soften up after being cooked, but sometimes it seemed like a forever until that happened. If you start the night before you'll have an easier time. I soak the dried beans overnight in a large bowl of cold water covered with plastic wrap. Then as my first cooking step I drain them and transfer the beans to a large pot and cover them again with cold water. Do NOT add salt. Bring the beans to a boil for 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat and cover the pot. Let the beans sit for one hour. Proceed with your recipe.
U.S. Senate Bean Soup
Ingredients
1 pound dried white beans, Great Northern or navy to soak
1 meaty ham bone
3 quarts water, to cook
3 medium onions, chopped finely
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 cup cooked mashed potatoes
salt to taste
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Method
1) Drain the beans and place them with the ham in a large soup kettle. Add 3 quarts of cold water. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer over low heat for 2 hours. Skim if necessary.
2) In the meantime chop the onions, garlic and celery. When the beans have cooked for 2 hours, add the chopped vegetables and the potato to the pot.
3) Simmer for 1 hour longer or until the beans are tender.
4) Season with salt and pepper
5) Remove the bones and meat from the soup. Dice the meat into ½-inch pieces and return to the pot. Discard the bones. Reheat to serve.
6) Garnish with snippets of parsley or chives.
A quick final note – keep the heat under the soup pot very low and gently stir it at regular intervals. Use a heat diffuser for the final hour if you own one. The soup is soup when the beans crush easily when pressed against the side of the pot with a spoon.
Now it's time for you to tell us What's for Dinner at your house this evening. Please grab a beverage, put your feet up, stick around a while and join in the conversation. This is a group that shares recipes, discusses interesting ingredients and helps others with their culinary questions.
The What's for Dinner Café is now open. Welcome and bon appétit.