Louise's version of U.S. Senate Bean Soup

By Lsweetnell

There are so many versions of this soup, I guess no one knows what the real recipe is. I do know this is a good version of Navy bean soup or northern bean soup.

It is important to wash, boil the beans in water for a few minutes before draining the beans and beginning the recipe. Beans are known to hold toxins that can cause discomfort, especially in children and the elderly. This should be done for all hard beans.

You could get away with using canned and rinsed beans which would cut the cooking time by at least half. No par boiling, no cooking for one hour before adding the ham and final ingredients. Just add the ingredients and bring to a boil and cook on low for two hours.

I always prefer to cook the onions, carrots, and celery, and for the last minute the garlic in a separate skillet (until the onions are translucent) before adding to the mix.

I am not fond of the very salty country ham or using all ham hawks in my soup, or any bean soup. To me it overpowers the soup. (I really do not like it in my pinto beans either. One ham hawk is plenty for that smoky flavor. Use chopped ham (you can buy a ham steak or get the butcher to cut you a 1/2 inch thick slice of ham or your left over baked ham. I know, some will strongly disagree; but its just my opinion.

This recipe and photo starts from http://sweetteaandcornbread.blogspot.com/2012/09/senate-white-bean-soup.html

Ingredients

• 1 lb. navy or great northern beans
• 1 cup chopped celery (finely)
• 1 cup chopped onion (finely
• 1/2 cup grated or shredded carrot
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 ham hock or meaty ham bone
• 1 quart of water
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 2 cups chopped ham (can use country ham or smoked ham)
• 1 Tbs. bacon drippings
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 2 Tbsp ketchup
• 2-3 drops of Tabasco sauce (optional)

Details

Adapted from sweetteaandcornbread.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

Wash and sort the beans. Place in your soup pot or dutch oven and cover with water about an inch over the top of the beans. Bring to a boil. Boil for just a few minutes. Remove from the heat and drain well.

Place back in the pan with about 1 quart of water and 1 quart of chicken stock. Add the chopped celery, onion, garlic, and carrot. Add the ham hock or ham bone and the bacon drippings. Season with salt and black pepper. Bring up to a boil then turn down to simmer and simmer covered for about an hour.

Add the chopped ham and ketchup cook for about 2 more hours on medium low heat. Remove 2 cups of the beans and mash them with a fork and return to pot. This just thickens the soup. Also, remove the ham hock or ham bone and trim any of the lean meat from it. Discard the fat and bone. Cook for about 30 more minutes. The soup should be nice and thick at this point. Taste for seasoning, depending on what type of ham you used, you might need more salt. If you used country ham, you probably won't need any additional salt.