Why I Love "Poor People Food"

In any part of the world you can find some of the best dishes in the poorest of kitchens. Food writers like to dress it up and call it "Rustic" or "Country" cooking. What they mean is "Poor People Food." Usually there are some common threads that include a cheap cut of meat, a few aromatic vegetables, lots of spices and herbs and some form of inexpensive starch. The ingredients are usually cooked in a single pot over low heat for a long time. This allows all of the ingredients to do their magic and turn that cheap cut of meat into a soft flavorful thing of beauty. One of my favorites is White Beans with Pork. 
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

White Beans with Pork

1 lb. bag navy beans

1 lb. bag great northern beans

1 lb. cooked pork (ham, shoulder, tenderloin etc.)

4 stalks celery

1 bunch green onions

1 bunch parsley

4 carrots

2 medium yellow onions

1 whole garlic pod

3 qt. ham stock*

1 Tbsp. ground thyme

1 Tbsp. oregano

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. bacon grease

Salt

Pepper

Prep

Soak beans overnight in cold water. Chop celery, carrots and onions. Finely chop green onions and parsley. Slice ¼ inch through the top of the garlic pod, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and wrap tightly in foil. Chop cooked pork into small cubes, no larger than ½ inch. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook

Place foil wrapped garlic in the hot oven and roast for at least 20 minutes. Heat a large stock pot over medium heat. Put olive oil and bacon grease in hot pot until bacon grease is fully dissolved and sizzling. Add chopped yellow onions and cook until translucent. Add celery, carrots thyme and oregano. Cook until celery begins to soften. Add cooked pork and cook until meat is hot, stirring constantly. Drain and add beans and enough ham stock to cover all ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Remove roasted garlic from oven and squeeze pods into simmering liquid. Stir frequently and add liquid as it reduces. Cook for at least 2 hours. Stir aggressively and taste broth. Add salt and pepper as required. About ten minutes before serving, add chopped green onions and stir.

Plate

Serve with hot bread in a shallow bowl. Garnish with chopped parsley.

(Serves 10)

* there are several good commercial brands. I use Better than Bouillon.

This recipe is only for those with patience

Soup that Looks Like America


(Making this soup is a multi-day process, so don't print out this recipe and try to make it on the same day you want to serve it.)

4 qt. ham stock

8 oz. dry black beans

8 oz. dry navy beans

8 oz. dry red beans

8 oz. dry pinto beans

4 stalks celery

2 yellow onions

6 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp. thyme

1 tsp. rubbed sage

1 Tbsp. Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub

1 tsp. paprika

1 lb. smoked sausage

1 lb. ham (cooked or cured)

½ lb. bacon

1 bunch green onions

Salt

Black pepper

2 Tbsp. olive oil

Prep

Soak beans in cool water (in separate containers) overnight. Drain, rinse and set aside. Chop celery, onions, garlic and green onions. Cut ham, sausage and bacon into ½” pieces.

Cook

In a large stock pot, cook bacon until browned and most fat is rendered. Add olive oil, onions, celery and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent. Add ham and sausage and cook until slightly browned. Add thyme, sage, Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub and paprika. Stir until all herbs and seasonings are evenly distributed. Add beans and stir. Add enough ham stock to nearly fill pot. Set remainder aside. Cook over high heat until stock comes to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for three hours, adding stock if needed to maintain a liquid consistency. Roughly stir occasionally to break up some of the beans, but not all. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve when beans are soft.

Plate

Serve in a shallow bowl and top with chopped green onions.

(Serves 6)

*There are plenty of good commercially available ham stocks in the grocery store, but to make it from scratch just chop up two onions, one bunch of celery, one pod of garlic and add with a ham bone to a pot of boiling, salted water and cook for several hours. To me, the homemade stock makes all the difference between good and great.

Is it soup yet?

Oh yeah. It's soup. This one took all day. Actually, it took a couple of days since I started soaking the beans last night. As you may have read in the earlier post, I call this "Soup that Looks Like America" because of the white, black, brown and red beans. I'll let it rest in the fridge overnight and serve it after church on Sunday to the parishioners working to "green the cathedral." The Greening of the Cathedral has nothing to do with our carbon footprint, it is a great event where lots of folks help to hang the greenery for our big Christmas week services.

So if you are hungry for some hearty bean soup, made from ham stock cooked from scratch, come to Saint Andrew's Cathedral this Sunday. Dean Edward O'Connor will fill your soul and I'll fill your belly.

I'll post the recipe when I can grab some time to remember what I did and write it down.

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Soup that Looks Like America

This Sunday, Saint Andrew's Cathedral in Downtown Jackson, Mississippi, is holding a cooking contest. Parishioners are asked to prepare their favorite soup recipe and bring it to the church to feed those who are participating in the "Greening of the Cathedral." Edward, the dean of our Cathedral, will judge the soups and declare a winner of  "Souper Bowl Sunday."

In keeping with the ethos of our Cathedral (inclusion, diversity, warmth etc.) I have come up with a new recipe that I call "Soup that Looks Like America." It is a hearty, slightly spicy, soup with black, white, brown and red beans. Some are large, some are small. Some are whole, some are broken. I'll post pictures and a recipe when it is done.

Bon Appetit!

~Tom