SENATE BEAN SOUP
Bean soup as served in the U.S. Senate dining room
I lived in suburban Washington DC for most of my formative years. One of the
things that formed in the aforementioned years was a strong impression that
the government was full of beans. One day on a school visit to my senator
I learned just how it was that the government got to be so full of beans, and
I came away with the recipe. This is one of the best soups I have ever
tasted. Serve it with a big loaf of fresh hot homemade whole-wheat bread,
from which people just tear the bread with their fingers.
The House of Representatives serves a version without the onions and garlic
and mashed potatoes.
Ingredients
(Serves 6)
- 1 lb dried Navy beans
- 1 ham bone
(get one with plenty of meat on it)
- 12 cups water
- 3 medium onions,
chopped fine.
- 3 cloves fresh garlic,
minced.
- 3 celery stalks,
chopped fine.
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley,
(chopped fine)
- 1 cup mashed potatoes
- 1 tsp salt
(or less to taste)
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
Procedure
-
Wash the beans and remove those that float in the wash water.
Soak beans overnight in enough water to cover them by several inches.
Drain.
-
In a large kettle, place 3
quarts
of cold water. Add the drained beans and
the ham bone, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered,
for 2 hours. If scum forms on the surface, skim it off.
-
Chop the onions, garlic, celery, and parsley. Add to the pot. Add the mashed
potato to the pot. Simmer 1 more hour. Check the beans. If they are not yet
tender, then simmer some more.
-
Add salt and pepper. Remove the ham bone and pull the meat from it. Cut the
meat into small chunks, and toss them back into the soup.
-
Serve piping hot into preheated bowls, and sprinkle chopped fresh chives atop
each.
Notes
Great Northern beans are an adequate substitute for Navy beans. If you
forgot to soak them overnight and still want to make the soup, you can
simmer them for an hour and then discard that water. The beans end up with
slightly more flavor if you cold-soak them.
You can almost
certainly get away with using instant mashed potato flakes to acquire the
1 cup
of mashed potatoes that this recipe calls for.
Rating
Difficulty:
easy.
Time:
8 hours soaking, 10 minutes preparation, 3 hours cooking.
Precision:
no need to measure.
Contributor
Brian Reid
DEC Western Research, Palo Alto, California
reid@decwrl.dec.com {ihnp4,decvax}!decwrl!reid
Recipe last modified: 11 Jan 86
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From: reid@glacier (Brian Reid)
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Subject: RECIPE: U.S. Senate Bean Soup
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Date: 8 Aug 86 05:16:48 GMT
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