Da Wife's Bean Soup

By ShazInNV

From Sam Choy: At family gatherings, it's the wife's soup or mine. My soup always has leftovers; her soup's always gone. I think we eat more to make her feel better -- just kidding. Serve with freshly baked bread, or serve in "bowls" of hollowed-out sourdough rounds.

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried beans - kidney, piinto, or small red
• 2 smoked ham hocks, or ham shanks
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 6 cups water
• 1 Portuguese sausage (10 ounces) or Italian sausage
• 2 cups diced potatoes
• 2 cups diced carrots
• 1 1/2 cups diced onions
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 2 cups tomato puree
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Step 1

Soak the beans in water overnight. Drain and rinse.

In a stockpot, combine the soaked beans, ham hocks, chicken stock, cilantro and water. Bring to a boil, then simmer until meat and beans are tender, about 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Remove the ham hocks and set aside to cool.

When cool enough to touch, extract the meat from the ham hocks, discarding the skin and bones. Shred the meat and return to the stockpot. Slice and fry the Portuguese sausage and blot with paper towels. Add the sausage to the stockpot along with the potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, and tomato puree. Cook until the potatoes are tender. Season with salt and pepper.