From the Kitchen of The Cookworm

Stone Soup of the 6 Bean variety

Ingredients

·             1 perfect stone

·             ¼ cup Black Beans

·             ¼ cup Pinto Beans

·             ¼ cup Cannellini Beans

·             ¼ cup Kidney Beans

·             ¼ cup Great Northern Beans

·             ¼ cup Lima Beans

·             1 large onion roughly chopped

·             2 bay leaves

·             2 smoked ham hocks - $1.00

·             1 sprig or 1 tablespoon of thyme

·             1 sprig or 1 tablespoon of rosemary

·             1 pound of meat, cut into ½ inch cubes (beef roast, pork roast, turkey breast,                 or chicken breasts) - $3.00

·             1 carrot

·             2 potatoes

·             1 bunch of kale, mustard or turnip greens - $3.00

·             2 tablespoons white vinegar

·             Parmesan cheese

·             Black pepper

Instructions

If you like this the first time through, next time quadruple steps 1-3 and then freeze 3/4 of it in batches in an appropriate size for your family.  Then the day before you want soup, defrost a batch in the fridge.  Then 30 minutes before dinner, reheat, and then follow through with step 4.

Step 1 - before you make your soup

The morning of the day that you are going to cook you soup, measure out ¼ cup of each bean into a mixing bowl and rinse them six times. Then cover with double the amount of water to beans and let sit until needed. Do not salt them at this stage.

Step 2- simmer your meat

Six hours before dinner put your protein into a soup pot with 6 cups of water, the onion, the herbs, the ham hocks and the stone. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover.

*If you have prepped this step the day before and put it in the fridge, a responsible older child can bring it to a boil and reduce it to simmer so that step 3 is ready for you when you come home from work.

** If you choose a piece of meat that is inexpensive that had a lot of connective tissue and fat, then add an hour or more to this process.  That will give it time to break down the connective tissue and melt the fat.  

***You can also do this step by simmering the meat all day in your crock-pot.  Then when you get home, spread all the meat on a cookie sheet, transfer the broth to your soup pot on the stovetop, and move on to step 3.  Then when the meat has cooled and you have had time to remove the fat and unrendered connective tissue, add the meat to the beans in the soup pot and continue.

Step 3 – add the beans

Three hours before dinner, strain off all the water from the beans, rinse again and strain again. This removes a lot of the stuff that causes gas, so don’t skip!

Add the beans to the soup, add a little more water if needed. Taste the broth at this point and add salt.  Add more than you think you will need because the beans soak a lot of it up and then it will taste under seasoned.

Step 4 – add the vegetables

While the beans cook, chop the veggies.

20 minutes before dinner, add the veggies. Add a little more water if needed. Bring to a boil again; reduce to a simmer and cover. After 20 minutes taste for salt content.  If you need a little more salt, add it now. Then stir in the vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes for the vinegar to incorporate and then serve.

Serve with a crusty loaf of bread, a grind of Parmesan cheese and a little cracked black pepper.  I like garlic rosemary bread with this soup. The person who gets the stone in their bowl is the winner!