Charlevoix Bean Soup

Nothing is more rewarding on a cold winter’s day than creating a soup or stew in your crock pot.



















Last Sunday, I worked with heirloom organic beans from Seed Savers Exchange called Charlevoix Dark Red Kidney Beans -- "Prized for the tasty thick broth it produces in soups, stews & chilies."

I had a 12 oz. sample of the Charlevoix beans to work with, so here is my complete recipe.






































Ingredients:

1 12 oz. package of Charlevoix Dark Red Kidney Beans

1 12 oz. bottle of St. Pauli Girl Dark beer (or your favorite dark beer)

1 14.5 oz. can of chicken broth

1 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes with green chilies

1 jalapeno pepper diced (optional)

1 large onion diced

1 head of orange cauliflower cut into 1 inch sections (plain cauliflower is fine)

1 head of broccoli cut into 1 inch sections

2 carrots peeled & sliced

2 stalks of celery chopped

3 cloves of garlic chopped

Notes:

For each can of chicken broth add 1 can of water.
For each can of tomatoes & chilies add 1 can of water.
Beef broth can be used instead of chicken, if you prefer.




















Preparation:

In a large sauce pan, Pour 4 quarts of boiling water over beans to cover with at least 4 inches of water.
Soak beans for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, prepare crock pot by adding the following:
1 bottle of dark beer, 1 can of chicken stock with 1 can of water, 1 can of tomatoes & chilies with 1 can of water.
Set crock to “high” and prepare and add vegetables.

Slow cooked (recommended)
After beans have soaked for an hour, drain.
Add beans to crock pot. Stir once or twice each hour for at least 8 to 10 hours.
Set crock pot to “low” an additional 8 to 12 hours (usually overnight).

The longer you let the beans simmer in the crock pot, the thicker the broth will get—well worth the wait!

Faster cooking time
You may speed up the cooking time by preparing the beans on the stove:
Drain after 1 hour soaking and add fresh water.
Bring to a boil then simmer 45 minutes or until tender.
Add to crock pot and let cook for 2 hours.


Comments:

They weren't kidding when they said that the Charlevoix Dark Red Kidney Bean makes a thick & tasty broth - Wow, outstanding!

This is the fundamental recipe for all of my bean soups. I used one variety here but in reality, you can do multi-bean soups such as the 15 bean soup packages at your local supermarket.

I am planning to buy Charlevoix beans to plant in the 2008 garden. Hopefully they will do well so I can make more great soups next season.

December Brings Snow

The first week of December has come and gone. So too has "global warming" - ha!

The mild winter of 2006 was one for the record books, but it too is history. No such luck this year...

My trusty weather station has logged each frigid day from December 1st through December 7th and recorded a low of 6.4 degrees F on 12/06/07 @ 7:30 AM and the highest temp of the first 7 days was back on 12/03/07 @ 2:10 PM with a sizzling high of 34.2 degrees!

Today, 12/08/07, was somewhat tropical with a high of 38.7 @ 1:30 PM -- strange how after getting accustomed to a mean daily temp of 19 degrees it can feel "warm" at 38 degrees! Ah, but that's life in New England for you.

As of today, the gardens are asleep under a blanket of sleet & snow. Even dirt needs its beauty rest. Not much can be done outdoors anymore. The time spent at home is divided between reading up in the recent flurry of seed catalogs mailed to me, reading gardening books, cooking with the crock pot and keeping the fire going in the wood stove.

I'm already planning to break new ground in the spring. Simple strips of rotor-tilled rows will be made where the lawn mower once cat grass. Beans of every size and color will be grown next season.

The 2007 season focused on heirloom tomatoes. It was fun but not too productive. I saved some varieties of seed but haven't yet found the best type of tomato for here. 2008 will be Beans & squash.

I guess this isn't much of a post for the blog. But at least I got to ramble off some thoughts and weather data. Nothing really special for photos either, but at least this is something to look back on when December 2008 rolls around.

:)