Smoked Knuckle Bean Soup
Dried beans are a great source of fiber, protein, B vitamins including folic acid and essential minerals. Rounded out with fresh vegetables and a smoked pork knuckle in a healing bone broth, it becomes transcendent..
Rinse, pick over and soak dried heirloom beans in filtered water overnight. If sprouting your beans first, allow 3 days for the beans to produce 1/4″ sprouts.
Bring chicken bone broth, water, knuckle and beans to a boil, then skim and discard the scum. Lower the heat to medium and let cook until a second layer of foam forms, then skim and discard it.
Add chopped onions, celery, mustard seeds, bay leaf and black pepper. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer until beans are tender, about 4 hours.
Remove the knuckle and allow to cool enough to handle. Trim away the excess fat, then dice the remaining meat and crisp in a pan as you would bacon. Add the meat, chopped tomatoes and tender lima beans to the soup and simmer another 20 minutes before serving.
Posted as part of Real Food Wednesdays
Cage Free Family said,
June 10, 2009 at 7:56 pm
I’m really digging the new photography and the pretty dishes.
This soup looks good enough to eat ;-)
I’ll have to try sprouting our dried beans. We eat a lot of dried bean dishes on the road, but I haven’t been able to get a good soft, non gritty, texture from them.
Ren said,
June 10, 2009 at 8:02 pm
And so it was. Good enough to eat, that is. Thanks!
Careful rinsing and soaking followed by a long, slow simmer will leave the beans as smooth as baby’s bottom. Sprouting adds lots of additional protein and vitamins, of course, and cooks much faster.
Hugs.
CHEESESLAVE said,
June 10, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Looks fabulous!
Ren said,
June 10, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Thank you, Ann Marie!
I saw your post about water kefir soda last week- I really need to try that. Do you think it would work well with hibiscus calyces?
Cheers,
Ren
Brooke said,
June 10, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Wow, can’t believe I’m just finding this blog. Love the idea and your bean soup looks amazing! I would have never thought to sprout my beans before cooking them, thanks for the idea and I can’t wait to try it! :)
Ren said,
June 10, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Thank you, Brooke!
Kelly the Kitchen Kop said,
June 11, 2009 at 12:19 am
That picture is GORGEOUS! I’ll bet the soup is pretty good, too. ;)
Thanks for joining in on Real Food Wednesday!
Kelly
Ren said,
June 11, 2009 at 1:03 am
After being mostly rejected by foodgawker and tastespotting, I’m determined to learn a few basics of food photography ;-)
Thanks, Kelly, and thanks for giving us a forum to talk about Real Food!
Accidental Huswfe said,
June 11, 2009 at 8:04 am
Hi!
I’m loving your blog which I discovered from Kellly’s blog carnival, which I also posted on. Love your phrase — analog cooking in a digital world. Perfect!
Ren said,
June 11, 2009 at 8:19 am
Kelly’s is a great resource, isn’t it? Thank you, Ma’am!!
Alyss said,
June 12, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Looks delicious! I love adding a bone to my soup. There was a great story about this “hip new” trend in the New York Times a few months back. I chucked to myself when I read it… and then made stew with some of the beef neck bones in my freezer.
Your photo is fantastic, and the heirloom beans look amazing. Great work!
Ren said,
June 12, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Good to know that the old ways are the hip new thing.. ;-)
Thank you so much, Alyss!
pomegranates said,
June 14, 2009 at 8:11 pm
wow, this bean soup looks fantastic!
Ren said,
June 14, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Thank you!
elya said,
July 6, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Just finished eating a big bowl of this bean soup… LIFE IS GOOOOOOOD!!!!
Ren said,
July 6, 2009 at 10:46 pm
I really liked that one too. Here are a couple more you might like..
http://ediblearia.com/2008/09/26/cannellini-soup-with-grilled-ficelle/ http://ediblearia.com/2009/02/05/white-bean-soup-wcaramelized-leeks-fennel-venison-sausage/
Thanks!
elya said,
July 7, 2009 at 12:37 pm
I cooked those a while ago, when they first came out :) Reeeeally good!!!!