It's Fall, which means I make a LOT of soup. I love soup. My husband sometimes wishes I didn't love soup so much, but he will live. Last week, when Jonathan came home to the THIRD batch of soup for dinner that week he said something like "Can you make some sort of soup that has kielbasa in it.....please?". I'm not a huge fan of sausage, but I aim to please, so I came up with this yummy recipe to please my kielbasa-loving husband. For the record: He gave this a "two thumbs up"!
Ham and Bean Soup (with Kielbasa)
*Don't you love the clever name?
1- 20 oz package 15 Bean Soup Mix (throw out that "ham flavor" packet that comes with it-ick!)-3 quarts water
-1 quart vegetable stock (oops-not pictured)
-1 quart ham stock (not pictured-go to the link!)
-1 cup apple juice
-1 lb cooked cubed ham
-1 lb Kielbasa (sliced and browned in bacon drippings before you add it to the soup)
-1 diced green pepper
-1 chopped onion
-2 stalks of celery diced (leave those leaves on the celery stalks!)
-2 good-sized carrots sliced (but not too thin.)
-3-4 garlic cloves, crushed with the knife blade and then chopped super fine
-2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
-1 teaspoon dried basil
-3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or go wild and add the whole teaspoon, I won't tell anyone.)
-3/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper (or.....well, never mind!).
-1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram (yes, it makes a difference...just go buy it!)
-1/2 teaspoon tabasco sauce
-1 16 oz jar Medium Salsa (or mild for you wimps!)
-1 can petite dice tomatoes, undrained.
-1 4 oz can chopped green chilies.
1.) Rinse dry beans and place in large stock pot/dutch oven with 3 quarts of water. Bring to a boil; boil for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand for one hour (or two hours, because you forgot you didn't have enough stock, so you had to send your sister out on a "stock run" at the grocery store while your two small children sleep).
2.) After one hour (or two....) drain and rinse beans. Return to the (rinsed out) pot; add stock, (that your sister so graciously ran out to buy for you!) juice, veggies, and seasonings. DON'T add the salsa, tomatoes, and green chilies!!! We will get to that later.
3.) Bring all ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 3 hours (until beans are almost tender).
4.) Add salsa, tomatoes, and chilies now. Bring to a boil again. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for another 30 minutes.
Enjoy!*No soup is complete without a tasty bread, am I right? Of course I am! I love, love, love these super simple Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits! My butt is not a fan of them, but I can always run a few extra miles, or just embrace my jiggles. I wasn't born with a tiny rump, so what do I care-ha!
Cheddar Biscuits
-2 tablespoons sugar
-4 teaspoons baking powder
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
-1/2 cup cold COLD butter (don't you dare use margarine!).
-1/2 cup (well, it's more like a HEAPING 1/2 cup) SHARP cheddar cheese.
-3/4 cup buttermilk (cold!)
1.)Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cayenne. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the cheese & toss to coat the cheese in the flour. Stir in buttermilk until just moistened.
2.) Turn onto a lightly floured surface & knead a few times (8-10 turns). Pat or roll to just about 3/4 inch thickness. Cut with a floured 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 425 for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.
2 comments:
YOu make stuff that uses a lot of ingredients ... that is so out of my comfort zone! LOL Last week's recipe was great, and I may just give this one a try too. Thanks!
Hehe! Well, I think a lot of the soups I make have a variety of ingredients because I'm a "dumper"...I just keep adding stuff that I think will make it better. I'll post my lemon/rosemary chicken next. It only has 5 or 6 ingredients!
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