Great Northern Bean Soup

What a great thing to have simmering on the stove all day when it's cold outside!

Ham hocks

Great Northern Beans, 2lb. dry beans

3/4 lb. carrots

One large onion

1 cut chopped celery

Pepper

Chicken bouillon or salt

I thought I'd already typed this recipe in, so I didn't take pictures right from the start. But it's been so simple, really. This is an all day recipe. You can't rush dried beans. I started this at 10:30AM.

I found my biggest pot, maybe 8 quarts. I emptied a 2lb. bag of great northern beans into the pot and looked through to make sure there weren't any stones and I removed the odd looking beans. Anything that looks like it wasn't a good bean to start with. 

I bought two packages of smoked ham hocks and tossed them in there. There were five smallish ones. Large ones, you'll need less; small ones, more...  I poured in water to fill the pot. 

Put the pot on to simmer. I put a lid on at a slant, with just a sliver of open pot. It keeps it from boiling over. The only thing I added to the beans, ham hocks and water was a good sprinkling of pepper. Nothing more.  As time goes on, and water evaporates, add water to keep the pot full. Stir the pot every once in a while. I check it about once an hour. 

It's about 4:30 now. The beans are tender, the broth tastes deliciously of ham. I will pull the ham hocks out now, strip off the meat and return the meat to the pot. Fatty skin and bones hit the trash can. After skimming off the obvious fat on the broth, I will add fresh veggies; celery, onions, carrots. A hint I garnered from a dear friend, if you like the flavor of Campbell's bean soup, add a good squirt (1/4 cup?) of ketchup to the nearly done soup. It adds that pinkish color and a sweetness. I really don't care so much for that. I thought I'd throw it out there for anyone that might be interested. I'll be back a little later with some pictures. 

Boy, the house smells good! 

Simmer ham hocks and beans in water all day.

Remove ham hocks from broth.

After removing ham hocks, add celery,

Carrots,

And onions. Allow to simmer further for another hour or so until everything is tender. After removing meat from ham hocks, add that back in, as well.

Before serving adjust salt and pepper. I add pepper, but for salt, I prefer to add bouillon instead of salt.

Serve with hot bread or cornbread. Yum! Delicious cold weather meal!

Stuffed Pepper Soup

Stuffed Peppers has been a favorite of our family for ages. This is a new way to enjoy that flavor. 

3-4 Green Peppers, cut into spoon sized pieces.
Beef broth to fill pot
1-2 Onions, cut up
White rice, about a cup or so
Ground beef 1 lb.
Ground pork 1 lb.
Paprika 1 Heaping Tablespoon
Black Pepper 1 teaspoon
Cayenne pepper, optional
Canned tomatoes, including juice
Vegeta, if you can find it, 1 Heaping Tablespoon














Brown your meats, breaking apart as it cooks. Drain away the fat. Add in vegetables, spices and broth. Simmer together about 90 minutes. Add rice the last 20 minutes. Enjoy with some nice crusty bread! 

Gather your ingredients.

Brown your meats, breaking them as they cook. 

While the meat cooks, prepare your vegetables. 

  

Add your vegetables.

Don't skimp on the green peppers, they are the star of the show! 

 Add in the canned tomatoes, broken into small pieces, but not liquefied.

Rinse the tomato juice into the soup.

Don't forget to rinse the tomato can juices in, too.

 Add water (or broth) to cover veggies.

 Add enough bouillon to make your broth. 

I'm using mostly beef with a little vegetable to account for the lack of Vegeta.

When I get to Croatia, I'll bring back a large bag!

 Spices go in now. 

 Stir it all up and bring up to boil, lower heat to simmer.

 Cover and allow to simmer for 90 minutes.

 I used a combination long and short grained rice. Use what you have. 

Sprinkle rice into the soup the last half hour of cooking time. Stir in well. 

YUM! It turned out just like I imagined! 

Cabbage Soup

 An updated version of an old favorite

You'll need:
A pound or so of  ground beef
Small head of cabbage
A potato or two, cubed
Onion, sliced
1 cup Celery, sliced
1 cup Carrot, sliced
Garlic clove, minced
Canned tomatoes, including juice
Tomato paste, 2 Tablespoons
1 Tablespoon Pepper
1 Teaspoon Parsley
Crushed Red pepper or cayenne to taste
Beef bouillon appropriate to your amount of water. 

Brown your ground beef, skin away fat
Add water, bouillon and everything else

Allow to simmer for a couple hours or until the vegetables are tender. 

Gather ingredients

Brown beef

 Break up the beef as it cooks. 

Add onions

Chops your vegetables

Add to the pot as you get them done.

Cut cabbage into spoon friendly size. 

Add to the pot.

Add water to cover.

Stir it up to combine everything. 

Add bouillon to the water. 

 The tomatoes here only come whole when canned. 

So I'm breaking them up by hand. 

Pour tomatoes into the pot. 

Juice and everything goes in. 

 Tomato paste. 

  Upon tasting, I thought it needed a little kick, so in goes crushed red pepper. 

When tasting to adjust flavor, if you feel it needs salt, add bouillon instead. 

Yum!! It's so chock full of veggies it is very satisfying, 
almost more like a stew than soup! 

Sausage Lentil Soup

A wonderful warm meal on a chilly, foggy, rainy day. 

Ingredients you'll need:

Lentils, about 2 cups, 16 ounces, 450gr. 

Onion, one large or two smaller

Celery, about 2 cups, sliced

Carrots, 3 or 4 medium

Frozen Spinach, about 1/2 cup

Canned tomatoes, small can

Liquid Smoke, Optional

Garlic, one large clove, minced

Thyme

Pepper

Bay leaf

Chicken stock or bouillon

Smoked Sausage, 4 links

It's foggy and dreary outside. We haven't seen the horizon in days. 

Perfect time for a nice hot pot of soup! 

Gather your ingredients 

Chop your vegetables and get them started into the broth.

Soup is very forgiving. Adjust the amount of bouillon to the amount of water you use. I'm using a 5 liter pot. The best US equivalent is about 5 quart. It's not an overly huge pot. You can adjust your ingredients to make a larger or smaller pot.  

Everything goes in the pot, including... 

Spices and garlic.

Stir it up

 Bring to a boil, low heat to simmer.

Cut your sausage thin.

Add to your simmering soup. Allow to cook for about an hour. 

 After about an hour, add chopped, canned tomatoes.

 If you'd like, add about a teaspoon of Liquid Smoke.

And your lentils. 

The 500gr bag held about 2.5 cups. I used 2 cups of the lentils.

 In they go. Cover again after stirring and allow to simmer for another hour. 

After about 2 hours total cooking time, everything is done.

 A very hearty soup. 

How warm it makes us feel on this chilly day!