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Weekly Cooking Thread ~Recipes~ June 11, 2011
FreeRepublic Cooks | June 11, 2011 | libertarian27

Posted on 06/11/2011 8:04:42 AM PDT by libertarian27

Welcome to the 27th installment of the FR Weekly Cooking (Recipes) Thread.

Looking for something new to make or made something new that came out great? Please share a 'tried-and-true' recipe or two - or all of them:)! for fellow FReepers to add to their 'go-to' Recipe Stack of Family Favorites!

Here's the place to share and explore your next favorite recipe.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Food; Hobbies; Reference
KEYWORDS: cooking; food; recipes; weeklycookingthread
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To: CynicalBear

Who has the best Navy Bean Soup recipe?

My dad made the BEST Navy Bean Soup but he kept it in his head. He took it with him when he died. Same with his Vegetable Beef soup...dang it.

I’ll check the cooking threads archive but feel free to post yours.


21 posted on 06/11/2011 2:33:51 PM PDT by hattend (Let's all meet Sarah at her last bus stop -- 1600 Pennsylvania Ave in Jan 2013)
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To: hattend
>> Who has the best Navy Bean Soup recipe?<<

I’m not sure I’ve ever had just Navy Bean soup. Any bean soups I’ve had are the mixed bean soups. The one I make starts with the bag of mixed beans then add onion, Italian sausage, tomatoes, garlic etc.

22 posted on 06/11/2011 2:50:54 PM PDT by CynicalBear
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To: libertarian27

I have many green tomatos that are getting close to harvesting. I would like a green tomato salsa recipe that someone here has made. We like thick and chucnky salsas and spicey, too. I searched online, but I would like to have a FReeper favorite.


23 posted on 06/11/2011 2:59:40 PM PDT by rightly_dividing (1 Cor. 15:1-4 Believe it!)
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To: CynicalBear

When you think Navy Bean soup, closest I would say to taste is Campbell’s Bean with Bacon.

But your mixed bean soups sounds good, too. Share!


24 posted on 06/11/2011 2:59:40 PM PDT by hattend (Let's all meet Sarah at her last bus stop -- 1600 Pennsylvania Ave in Jan 2013)
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To: CynicalBear

Do all the beans get done at the same time in those mixed bean bags? I have always hesitated, wondering about that.


25 posted on 06/11/2011 3:04:23 PM PDT by rightly_dividing (1 Cor. 15:1-4 Believe it!)
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To: hattend

Here are a couple of recipes I use. They are both very similar and I have used them both. I think I may have posted the second one to one of the cooking threads before, but I will save you having to look it up and post it again now.

Navy Bean or Other White bean Soup

1 ham bone
4-6 strips of bacon, chopped
6 cups chicken broth
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced carrot
1 cup diced celery
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons fresh or 1 teaspoon dried parsley
2 teaspoons seasoning blend (I like spicy Mrs. Dash, but use a blend you like)
2 cans (15 ounces each) Navy beans or other white beans, drained and rinsed*
1 cup diced ham, optional
salt and pepper, to taste

Cook the bacon in the bottom of a large stock pot until it gets to the translucent stage. Add onion, garlic, and celery and sauté until the onion is translucent.

Add the chicken broth, the ham bone, and the remaining vegetables, beans, and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about an hour or so.

Remove ham bone and cut or pull off all meat from the bone and chop it up. Skim any fat off of the top of the soup.

I like to remove about 1 cup or so of the soup and either mash it up or put in my blender, and then add it back to the soup to thicken it a bit along with the ham. I let it simmer for perhaps 20-30 minutes more if we can wait that long.

This should serve about 8 to 10.

For a variation, I have also added other veggies to the pot such as corn, mixed veggies, or just about any leftover veggies I have in the house. One time I made it I even threw in some zucchini along with the ham.

I have one person in my house that doesn’t like tomatoes, but before I was married I used to throw some fresh or canned tomatoes into the pot as wellsometimes.

I also often make this same soup using dry beans since they are cheaper than canned beans. Either soak the beans overnight in water and then rinse them and cook them or just throw them in a pot and cook them by themselves without adding any salt or any kind of acid to the pot for about 2-3 hours until they are soft.

Navy Bean and Bacon Soup with vegetables
2 cups cooked Navy Beans
1/2 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
4 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
1 tsp. minced garlic
Liquid from cooking the beans and/or chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups of shredded cabbage

I threw everything into my soup pot except the seasonings and cabbage and cooked it until the carrots were tender. I tasted the broth and added my seasonings. (It didn’t need any salt today, as this batch of bacon was really salty.) I had just a little cabbage left in my refrigerator, so I threw that in just before serving so there would be a little bit of added texture and freshness to the soup. It too was delicious!


26 posted on 06/11/2011 3:37:29 PM PDT by Flamenco Lady
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To: Flamenco Lady

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Reading the ingredients in the first one makes my taste buds tingle...LOL!!!


27 posted on 06/11/2011 3:40:07 PM PDT by hattend (Let's all meet Sarah at her last bus stop -- 1600 Pennsylvania Ave in Jan 2013)
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To: rightly_dividing

I have made soup using the mixed bean bags several times and have just used the recipe on the bag of the soup mix and adjusted it to my own tastes. Every time I have made it, the soup had turned out to be absolutely delicious.


28 posted on 06/11/2011 3:42:47 PM PDT by Flamenco Lady
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To: Flamenco Lady

Good stuff in the second one too. Thanks!

I actually have all the ingredients at home for either... I might have either for Sunday dinner!


29 posted on 06/11/2011 3:44:19 PM PDT by hattend (Let's all meet Sarah at her last bus stop -- 1600 Pennsylvania Ave in Jan 2013)
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To: rightly_dividing
>>Do all the beans get done at the same time in those mixed bean bags? I have always hesitated, wondering about that.<<

I have never had a problem with some not done. I soak them overnight to be made into soup the next day.

30 posted on 06/11/2011 3:54:12 PM PDT by CynicalBear
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To: hattend
>>But your mixed bean soups sounds good, too. Share!<<

It depends on what I’m hungry for as to how I make the bean soup. Sometimes I use a spicy (mild) sausage and more of a Cajun seasoning type of soup. Other times I use smoked ham hocks and make a milder soup. Throw a diced onion in there and call it bean soup!

31 posted on 06/11/2011 4:02:09 PM PDT by CynicalBear
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To: hattend

Heck, I’m living in Florida and I have never heard of it until today.


32 posted on 06/11/2011 4:23:50 PM PDT by perfect stranger (Nobama)
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To: rightly_dividing

I have never made a salsa with green tomatoes, but I would like to try. When I make a salsa the idea is to balance all the flavors. Tomato, onion, some type of spicy pepper, cumin, some type of vinegar, lime or lemon juice. I like to use V8 tomato juice and Tabasco instead of the vinegar most of the time.

A good recipe I think would use 50% tomato, 33% onion, 11% spicy pepper and the remaining 1% being the V8 juice and spices.

So with that formula here’s a recipe to try that will make 4 cups or 32 ounces of salsa.

16 ounces or two cups of diced Green tomato
10 ounces of onions - red or white onions but not green ones. Diced to the same size as the tomatoes.
5 ounces or a bit more than half a cup of chopped Jalapeno pepper. Dice these much smaller than the onion and tomato.

4 ounces of V8 tomato juice
1 ounce of chopped Cilantro
1 squeeze of the Lime
6-16 dashes of Tabasco

Put it all in a mixing bowl and mix it well.

If you want to be able to avoid the spicy pepper when you dip a chip chop the spicy pepper into larger pieces so it is easier to avoid.

I bet they would taste good on a pizza if they are sliced or diced. Marinate thick slices of them in olive oil, Balsamic vinegar and a bit of brown sugar for a few minutes and then put them into a hot saute pan to caramelize each side.

A few years ago a chef where I worked got 15 pounds of yellow tomatoes for a great price and he made a yellow tomato sauce. You could try making a green tomato sauce.


33 posted on 06/11/2011 5:18:16 PM PDT by perfect stranger (Nobama)
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To: CynicalBear

Thanks, I had heard a long time ago that some would not be done, therefore I have not tried them. I will adjust my thinking and buy a bag sometime soon.


34 posted on 06/11/2011 6:42:56 PM PDT by rightly_dividing (1 Cor. 15:1-4 Believe it!)
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To: perfect stranger
That sounds good to me. I don't like vinegar myself and try to avoid it if possible.

I am waiting for my wife to get home from a trip to try some pepper sauce that my friend made and shared. It apears to be a salsa, very thick and chuncky, with some onion, and it looks like a little tomato. I was expecting it to be a jar of vinegar with some peppers in it.

Wife buys some yellow tomatos sometimes. They are very good, and low acid, too. I may plant some next year.

35 posted on 06/11/2011 6:55:51 PM PDT by rightly_dividing (1 Cor. 15:1-4 Believe it!)
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To: Flamenco Lady

Thanks, I will have to give it a atry. I couldn’t tell you how many times I have looked at those bags, then not but it.


36 posted on 06/11/2011 7:09:55 PM PDT by rightly_dividing (1 Cor. 15:1-4 Believe it!)
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To: rightly_dividing

Just remember not to add salt or anything acid to any pot of beans or lentils until they are soft. Things like salt, tomatoes, vinegar, lemon juice, etc. will slow the cooking process of beans and lentils. This is usually the only reason the beans and lentils don’t all get cooked well enough. Sometimes they will prevent the beans from ever getting past the al dente stage if you add either one too soon.

There is one brand of the mixed beans for soup that I picked up one time that called for tomatoes way too early in the cooking process, but I don’t remember which brand it was. Every person I have ever heard complain about the beans in this kind of soup not all getting cooked added tomatoes or salt before the beans were soft. Once I have told them this hint I learned from my mother many years ago, they have never had a problem again.


37 posted on 06/11/2011 7:41:07 PM PDT by Flamenco Lady
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To: CynicalBear

Do you like your bean soup to have thin clear broth or thick mashed bean type broth. My son likes the clear, but I grew up with the thicker slightly mashed type.


38 posted on 06/11/2011 10:51:29 PM PDT by Netizen
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To: Flamenco Lady
The person that told me that all the beans were not done was one that used a lot of salt and may have added it at the beginning.
39 posted on 06/12/2011 5:20:12 AM PDT by rightly_dividing (1 Cor. 15:1-4 Believe it!)
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To: Netizen
>>Do you like your bean soup to have thin clear broth or thick mashed bean type broth.<<

Somewhere in between usually but I have on occasion put it in the blender to make a drinkable soup. I owned a trucking company for about 5 years and drove myself and had a microwave and fridge in the truck. I would put portions in the fridge, heat them in the microwave and drink them while on my way.

40 posted on 06/12/2011 8:16:35 AM PDT by CynicalBear
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