Pork And Bean Soup
Pork And Bean Soup
On a nice cold winter day, what could possibly be better than a nice soul warming bowl of soup. So last night during the Nor'easter that dropped several inches of snow on our quiet cabin in the woods, I decided to run to the market and get supplies to make a nice Pork and Bean Soup. My roommate had started soaking three different kinds of beans the night before, and I knew we had some celery in the fridge and some onion, garlic, and shallot, so I needed to run and get some pork, carrots, and parsley from the store. My original intention was to get some ham hocks, but the store was sold out, and I called to another local store, which was also sold out. So, time to get creative! I saw some salt pork, I had bacon at home, and I figured that would be a nice base to start with, then I got a nice large bone in slice of ham, and there were some pork ribs with bones on sale, so I figured that would work for the pork, and I came up with this delicious pork and bean soup. Now, I've had some great soups in my life, I have even made some amazing soups in my life, but this one was simply one of the best soups that I have ever had in my life.
I also made the soup the night before, and when it cooled, I put it in the fridge overnight, because I really wanted those flavours to mingle and become more complete, and I am so glad I did.
Ingredients:
1 shallot minced
1/2 onion minced
5 cloves of garlic minced
3 stalks of celery diced
2 carrots, sliced and cut in half
1 Bell Pepper diced
3 potatoes cubed into bite size pieces
1 small bunch of parsley finely chopped (about 1/4 of what is in the photo)
1/4 cup of white wine (Prophecy sauvignon blanc is what I used).
4 slices of fatty bacon chopped
1 package of salt pork (cubed)
1/3 of a large slice of ham (like the one in the picture) throw the bone in
4 Pork Ribs with the bones
Black Pepper (to taste)
Thyme (to taste)
Rosemary (to taste)
3 Bay Leaves
5 cups of whatever kind of dried beans you have (soak them overnight, and rinse them well before putting them in the pot)
5-6 Cups of water, enough to more than cover all of the ingredients, maybe an inch or two above the ingredients in the pot.
Directions:
1. prepare all of the ingredients
2. in a large pot, put in the chopped bacon and cubed salt pork (these are your fat meats, and they create the base for the soup). Cook down the salt pork and the bacon until they are cooked through, and much of the fat is rendered into oil, there should still be some chunks of cooked fat, those will be added back into the soup. When the bacon and salt pork is cooked through, maybe 5-10 min on med heat (6 on an electric stove) stirring regularly, remove the meat but leave the oil.
3. add the garlic, onion, shallot, and 1/2 of the parsley, the celery, and the bell pepper to the fat, and cook until aromatic and tender.
4. push the aromatics aside, and lay the pork ribs on the bottom of the pan, pushing the aromatics around so that they are on top of the pork ribs, then turn the heat up to med-high (about 8 on an electric stove). What we are doing is browning the pork ribs, then, flip them, again keeping the aromatics on the top of the meat, so that they don't burn. When the pork ribs are well browned on both sides, then use tongs and remove them. Return the head to med again, and give the aromatics a good stir.
5. there should be some pork burned to the bottom from the pork ribs, so add in your white wine do deglaze the pan giving everything a good stir scraping the bottom of the pan to get everything up. Reduce until most of the moisture is gone. While you do that, take 2 of the 4 pork ribs and cut the meat away from the bone and cut into bite sized cubes, Don't get all of the meat off the bone, because you are throwing those bones back in. The other two pork ribs, refridgetate to finish cooking for breakfast or even for dinner the night you make the soup, if you plan to eat the soup the day after you make it as I did. Now toss the two pork rib meat and their bones back into the pot, add the bacon and salt pork back in, and add the cubed ham pieces and its bone, add the rest of the parsley, and the rest of the ingredients that you haven't yet added. Then add 5-6 cups of water, and stir and bring to a boil.
6. once it comes to a boil, cover and reduce heat to med-low (4 on an electric stove) and simmer for at least an hour or more, the beans should be tender, and the meat fully cooked and falling off the bone, and hopefully the marrow from the bones should have dissolved into the broth. (stir regularly to get all of the ingredients blended together).
Notes: I love salt, I add salt to nearly everything. DO NOT ADD SALT TO THIS DISH!!!! The salt pork, the bacon, and the ham are all already salted, if you add salt you will not have an edible soup, not even for someone like me who absolutely loves salt. Seriously the salt in the meat is enough, and with the rosemary, black pepper, and thyme and the aromatics, you will have a very flavourful soup.
You can eat this right away, while it is still hot, or let it cool and refrigerate it overnight to let the flavours mingle and intensify, either way it is great. This is a fatty soup, perfect for a cold winter day, so when you take it out of the refrigerator the next day, it might be kind of thick and gelled over, that is good. just mix it up with your ladle, and ladle 3 ladlefuls of soup/bowl into a small pot, and heat to a boil and serve hot. The soup will become a beautiful liquid broth again as it reheats, and the broth is so beautiful and flavourful see the first photo.
I also made the soup the night before, and when it cooled, I put it in the fridge overnight, because I really wanted those flavours to mingle and become more complete, and I am so glad I did.
Ingredients:
1 shallot minced
1/2 onion minced
5 cloves of garlic minced
3 stalks of celery diced
2 carrots, sliced and cut in half
1 Bell Pepper diced
3 potatoes cubed into bite size pieces
1 small bunch of parsley finely chopped (about 1/4 of what is in the photo)
1/4 cup of white wine (Prophecy sauvignon blanc is what I used).
4 slices of fatty bacon chopped
1 package of salt pork (cubed)
1/3 of a large slice of ham (like the one in the picture) throw the bone in
4 Pork Ribs with the bones
Black Pepper (to taste)
Thyme (to taste)
Rosemary (to taste)
3 Bay Leaves
5 cups of whatever kind of dried beans you have (soak them overnight, and rinse them well before putting them in the pot)
5-6 Cups of water, enough to more than cover all of the ingredients, maybe an inch or two above the ingredients in the pot.
Directions:
1. prepare all of the ingredients
2. in a large pot, put in the chopped bacon and cubed salt pork (these are your fat meats, and they create the base for the soup). Cook down the salt pork and the bacon until they are cooked through, and much of the fat is rendered into oil, there should still be some chunks of cooked fat, those will be added back into the soup. When the bacon and salt pork is cooked through, maybe 5-10 min on med heat (6 on an electric stove) stirring regularly, remove the meat but leave the oil.
3. add the garlic, onion, shallot, and 1/2 of the parsley, the celery, and the bell pepper to the fat, and cook until aromatic and tender.
4. push the aromatics aside, and lay the pork ribs on the bottom of the pan, pushing the aromatics around so that they are on top of the pork ribs, then turn the heat up to med-high (about 8 on an electric stove). What we are doing is browning the pork ribs, then, flip them, again keeping the aromatics on the top of the meat, so that they don't burn. When the pork ribs are well browned on both sides, then use tongs and remove them. Return the head to med again, and give the aromatics a good stir.
5. there should be some pork burned to the bottom from the pork ribs, so add in your white wine do deglaze the pan giving everything a good stir scraping the bottom of the pan to get everything up. Reduce until most of the moisture is gone. While you do that, take 2 of the 4 pork ribs and cut the meat away from the bone and cut into bite sized cubes, Don't get all of the meat off the bone, because you are throwing those bones back in. The other two pork ribs, refridgetate to finish cooking for breakfast or even for dinner the night you make the soup, if you plan to eat the soup the day after you make it as I did. Now toss the two pork rib meat and their bones back into the pot, add the bacon and salt pork back in, and add the cubed ham pieces and its bone, add the rest of the parsley, and the rest of the ingredients that you haven't yet added. Then add 5-6 cups of water, and stir and bring to a boil.
6. once it comes to a boil, cover and reduce heat to med-low (4 on an electric stove) and simmer for at least an hour or more, the beans should be tender, and the meat fully cooked and falling off the bone, and hopefully the marrow from the bones should have dissolved into the broth. (stir regularly to get all of the ingredients blended together).
Notes: I love salt, I add salt to nearly everything. DO NOT ADD SALT TO THIS DISH!!!! The salt pork, the bacon, and the ham are all already salted, if you add salt you will not have an edible soup, not even for someone like me who absolutely loves salt. Seriously the salt in the meat is enough, and with the rosemary, black pepper, and thyme and the aromatics, you will have a very flavourful soup.
You can eat this right away, while it is still hot, or let it cool and refrigerate it overnight to let the flavours mingle and intensify, either way it is great. This is a fatty soup, perfect for a cold winter day, so when you take it out of the refrigerator the next day, it might be kind of thick and gelled over, that is good. just mix it up with your ladle, and ladle 3 ladlefuls of soup/bowl into a small pot, and heat to a boil and serve hot. The soup will become a beautiful liquid broth again as it reheats, and the broth is so beautiful and flavourful see the first photo.
Comments
Post a Comment