rinemb - Posted - 01/31/2011:  13:20:55

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Today I ran home at lunch to throw stuff into a pot for soup. A "this-and-that" cleanout of the fridge and cubbard.

So far here is what has gone into it:
Broth and water
several carrots, onion, and celery
chopped up canadian bacon roll and german bacon slices
can of butter beans
can of cannolini beans
can of white navy beans
ground white pepper

What should I add to this melange of ingredients/

Brad

KE - Posted - 01/31/2011:  13:24:14

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tomatoes!

CurtissWhite - Posted - 01/31/2011:  13:25:54

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A spoon!

pandjlocke - Posted - 01/31/2011:  13:32:52

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Must have garlic. Lots of garlic. A little cabbage or spinach might be interesting. A little thyme, parsley and cayenne for seasoning.

Brian T - Posted - 01/31/2011:  13:35:04

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Which direction did you imagine that you wanted the seasoning and aroma to go?
I agree with KE, some tomato thing might be needed (small tin of tomato paste, maybe?)
Some pearl barley would bulk it up (I'm biased = my favorite).

dawgdoc - Posted - 01/31/2011:  13:37:39

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corn, barley, sliced jalapenos, tabasco and a big pan of cornbread.

sounds good.

rinemb - Posted - 01/31/2011:  13:49:50

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tomato. Wife will like that. I have many options on canned tomatoes, even some canned italain plum toms in their own sauce.
Garlic...If alone, yea, lots of it. Wife is very timid on the garlic taste. I might crush up a clove or two, though.

Thanks, for not shaming me about the canned stuff. Its a last minute soup, to use up stuff in fridge before it spoils.

Brad

rinemb - Posted - 01/31/2011:  13:55:37

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Brian Asked "Which direction did you imagine that you wanted the seasoning and aroma to go?

I am imagining I am in a log home in 1932 somewhere in the Mtns of North Carolina, gone out to chop some wood, feed the hogs, move a few rocks, then comiin home to supper.....

GarlicBreath - Posted - 01/31/2011:  13:56:29

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quote:

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Originally posted by pandjlocke

Must have garlic. Lots of garlic. A little cabbage or spinach might be interesting. A little thyme, parsley and cayenne for seasoning.

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Agree.

rinemb - Posted - 01/31/2011:  14:02:26

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I do have a couple of cabbage quarters about to go bad. Might chop em up and toss em in.

eagleisland - Posted - 01/31/2011:  14:08:31

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I can tell from the list of ingredients that it needs SALT.

It also needs some acid (and acid means you can cut back on the salt, if so desired). Tomatoes are one way to add acid. Other mechanisms include a squeeze of lemon juice, a bit of wine or good quality vinegar...

pickNgrin - Posted - 01/31/2011:  14:40:52

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I'd leave it alone and make up some cornbread to go with it.

-matt

bournio - Posted - 01/31/2011:  15:09:18

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Coming from Lancashire, I've got to say, parched peas (google them)
Or a lot of pepper! (even if you think you've added a lot, add some more!!)

Ronnie - Posted - 01/31/2011:  15:32:41

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Omit the water and add a like amount of beer

Frebazak - Posted - 01/31/2011:  15:53:52

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Dang,...Ronnie beat me to it....

gshall - Posted - 01/31/2011:  17:26:19

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quote:

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Originally posted by pandjlocke

Must have garlic. Lots of garlic. A little cabbage or spinach might be interesting. A little thyme, parsley and cayenne for seasoning.

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...and a can of hominy. Drained!!!

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Edited by - gshall on 01/31/2011 17:33:18

Micki - Posted - 01/31/2011:  19:16:52

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I like to add some celery and macaroni noodles. Micki

Jim Cannon - Posted - 01/31/2011:  19:23:46

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You can run a couple of cups of it through a blender to thicken it....a potato masher works, too.

bubbalouie - Posted - 01/31/2011:  19:26:17

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A STONE.

rinemb - Posted - 02/01/2011:  08:03:33

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Lots of good ideas. Wish I had thought of the beer, I have some xmas beer aging in the fridge. wish I had pureed a cup full. Anyway, plenty left over for modifications for tonight. I would next time not use the large butter beans, but would use another smaller bean-or I like the hominy idea.
May add the tomato and garlic tonight.

Here was my final soup: (like any "peasant" soup, ingredients and volumes vary with availability and tastes)

Water and vegetable broth
3 carrots, 3 celerys, 1 big onion, all chopped
1/2 cabbage head chopped
chopped parsley-ladies handfull
1 can white navy beans
1 can cannalini beans
1 can larger butter beans (these were too large IMHO)
1 cup or so, of fresh pork renderings from lard
1 cup or so of cooked smoked Canadian bacon, chopped
1 cup or so, of german/cottage smoked bacon, chopped
couple of teaspoons or so, ground white pepper

Put in crockpot, on high 4-5 hours. If I had time low 7-8 hours, if I really had time-start with dry beans.
Served with dense white bread I made the day before-wiped with kerrygold Irish butter.

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Edited by - rinemb on 02/01/2011 08:06:14

Pickin in the Yukon - Posted - 02/01/2011:  08:18:33

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quote:

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Originally posted by eagleisland

I can tell from the list of ingredients that it needs SALT....

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I SECOND that!!!

Salt is soooo easy to leave out, particularly with health warnings from those that seek to instill fear. It's amazing how much of a difference is can make, too.

Then again, it's easy to add to a single bowl.

Send some my way when you're done!!

rinemb - Posted - 02/01/2011:  08:30:57

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As to the salt...the smoked meats I put in the soup were ery salty, and since I dumped the cans of beans along with their juices that were salty, and the packaged liquid broth was not low sodium, so I held back. Also, the bread was pretty salty. And you all were right, I still added just a sprinkle of salt to my bowl of soup, but it didn't take much.

Brad

KE - Posted - 02/01/2011:  08:46:08

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I've ruined a few soups with cured meats bringing in too much salt. It's better to add salt to taste at the table. It's pretty hard to remove it.