Bean Soup is a Conspiracy!

Originally posted by mblahnikluver
I am a big soup fan but beans are something i can't seem to get the taste for.

I don't like beans in anything and will pick them out.I even make my chili without beans if it's just for me but if I make it for others I add beans and just pick them out. My fiancee goes nuts over this because he loves beans and doesn't understand why I don't.

...

Well, you have one thing correct! As much as I love beans, there's one place they do not belong, and that's in chili!!! "Real" chili is made sans beans!

Great thread !!!! Well I didn`t know about beans and toxins but .. although I don`t crave beans once I start eating them there`s never enough ... I wonder if the toxins are to blame ??

Pythagoras also said that no one was to ever eat a bean under any circumstance! His reasons for making such a drastic statement are based on the theory from a Roman peer of his named Diogenes Laertius. Around the first century, B.C. it was felt that beans are " the materials which contain the largest portion of that animated matter which our souls are made of." Let me explain. The Greek word for soul was "anemos" which also meant wind. The animated matter which Diogenes is referring to is the intestinal digestion that goes on inside us with the beans. In other words, they believed that the buried dead released their souls in the form of gases or winds, that got absorbed into the fava beans. When you ate these beans, (the intestinal process) these spiritual soul winds got released and then ascended into Heaven.

Not all his thoeires were great

reply to post by Flyingclaydisk


Yeah I make beans myself all the time. I prefer Lima beans or split peas. Adding fresh chopped garlic and tablespoon of curry powder to them makes them even better. Don't forget the Onions, baby carrots and celery (use the celery leaf as well, it adds flavor)

Gotta disagree with you about not pre-soaking them though. Pre-soaking helps them cook quicker and prevents them from being hard. The key is to have the beans and veggies fall apart, then you know they are done.

I also add a can of beer and a can of chicken stock along with the water. ~$heopleNation

PInto beans with the ham pieces or bacon or salt pork and some proper seasoning....with cornbread on the side.
Don't need to be soup for me to like that!
For those that don't like beans...I have known many folk that come from the north or else where, stated they don't like beans, and never had true southern style pinto beans, and loved them.
But that soup does sound good..will give it a try on a cool Sunday afternoon. Thanks.
Oh..and all the talk about them being gassy? SO? That's the fun part...my kids hate me and my wife lets me have the bed to myself!!!!!

your article would be more impressive if you provided a vegetarian alternative to the pork. Obviously bean soup is healthy, but it's ironically not vegetarian - therein lies the conspiracy.

reply to post by baddmove


Nice story. In first grade we were told that story. It was made into a homework project to make a soup. Yes, we had to place an actual rock in it. Probably wouldn't fly in the school systems these days. Good memories though.


ETA: OP I will definitely try your recipe. I have cooked beans in a crockpot and they have came out moist and delicious.

Originally posted by Elentarri

Originally posted by tinker9917
I think beans traumatized me as a young child

Can't stand the look of them, or the smell of them. But you enjoy!

Me too. Beans are yuck!

If the recipe has more than 5 ingredients and takes more than 30minutes to prepare it doesn't get cooked.

edit on 22/22/13 by Elentarri because: (no reason given)

I won't eat beans. To me, it feels like I have a mouth full of pills and I just gag. Used to cringe when my parents used to torture me by serving beans and weenies! Ug, getting the jeebies at the memory

Originally posted by TinkerHaus
When I said beans were dirty, I wasn't meaning dirt only. I have kept a garden for years, I have no problem pulling a carrot out of the ground and eating it.

What I meant was beans are full of indigestable carbohydrates - when you use the same water you soak them in you're just putting all that stuff in your soup. That's what gives you the poots.

Same thing goes when you cook them without soaking, you're just taking all the indigestable carbs and putting it in your soup. This is why you soak your beans with a little (1-2tsp) baking soda. It helps release these sugars from the beans and keeps you fart free. There are also certain levels of toxins in beans that soaking and rinsing will get rid of.

People soaked their beans in the old days too - I'm talking about for thousands of years people have soaked and rinsed beans. So yeah, we've come a long ways from the days of eating dirty, rocky beans, but there are still very good reasons to soak them.

I really enjoy cooking. I have worked in fine dining at one of my state's premier restaurants, although it's been some time since I have worked in a kitchen. I still take cooking very seriously and take pride in making delicious and healthy food for my family. The OP is correct, you can make an edible soup out of pretty much anything.. It's attention to detail that takes your soup from "ok" to "amazing."

One day I wanted to learn to cook beans, so I STUDIED a lot of methods and recipes, and learned the science and chemistry (to a practical level, of course) of doing so. I'm not trying to be a turd, just saying there is a reason beans are soaked before cooking.

edit on 22-2-2013 by TinkerHaus because: (no reason given)

I can tell you have done your research about food, from doing my own research and chef friends who really have an understanding of food and it's reactions to the body, their properties, substitutes if needed etc. You are what you ingest/chew, and I think that is the core of health issues today.

To my knowledge if fresh beans are used there is no soaking needed, correct? They are much more advantageous to use and cook faster.

Rocks should not be in the beans unless they were picked up from the ground while the beans were drying or in some other part of the process. Beans should not be dirty unless they were put in dirt. Just wanted to throw that out there about some bean misconceptions, I grow a variety of them...

Got a good recipe without ham?

How about some spices and veggies? or chicken

reply to post by Flyingclaydisk


Nice read and great topic.

I spent a few years cooking for large groups and part of the lunch menu always included a soup.
I would like to add some more to your recipe from what I do remember about Bean Soup.

First off although your method is fine, it works and sometimes is the best way to go, I would like to make some recommendations. First I would like to recommend cooking or soaking some garbanzo beans overnight. This will be part of the base.From there I would start a Chicken Broth. I prefer the Chicken Stock that comes in a jar, it's concentrated and it's in the form of a paste and is delicious when creating a soup from it. I use a little more stock then water if you follow the stock directions on the jar to make the broth.

The key to good cooking is tasting. Taste everything. If you aren't sure if you added enough stock to the water, taste it and get it right to your taste buds. Add pepper, salt. whatever you think it needs. Once you think it tastes good, great, or excellent, others will also think so too.

Onion and celery are the next most important bases to almost all soups from what I have learned. You can liquefy almost any solid in a food processor, robo coup, or a blender by adding some liquid to it. In this case water or the cooking broth could be added to the chopped onions or celery and made into a liquid. Add just enough liquid and not too much to accomplish this. What I have and what is highly recommended is the hand held type that plugs in and you can use it right in your pot of soup while you are cooking it. It blends everything together while you are cooking it, it chops up everything as you move it around.

So I would boil the water, then add my chopped onions and celery and blend and liquify them right into the soup. Then add the stock from the jar. Start with the label directions and add more or less to taste. Add your pepper as well. This is already a great soup and it will only get better. Add your Garbanzo beans and turn them into soup as well, completely liquifying them. A good soup requires almost as much stirring as simmering. Add your navy beans and cook with some smoked ham, touch of bacon bits or bacon and anything else you like. You can grind everything up into true soup form with that handheld mixer/chopper. They cost around $30 for a good one at most kitchen stores/departments.

You can then leave the beans whole or as I like to do, I chop about half of them and turn them into the soup to.

Smoke flavoring is a good ingredient for this soup as well.

Get a handheld mixer/chopper and become a soup pro.

Garbonzo beans are real good for you and when incorporated into the broth become part of a great soup.

Use the chicken stock from the jar to create the broth.

Taste, taste, taste until you are done adding and cooking all of your ingredients.

reply to post by csulli456


Good suggestions.

I use smoked ham hocks so I don't really need to add any liquid smoke to get the smokey flavor.

I'll have to try the garbanzo bean route one time.

edit...regarding puree'ing the beans, yeah, the wife has a handheld mixer (we call it the "outboard motor") and you can make a fine puree' out of the beans, but I like the more rustic way of leaving the beans intact. They do break down a little and thicken the soup without having to be puree'd

reply to post by Flyingclaydisk


Ham Hocks are great. I even add some organic - (No nitrates) bacon to my beans too. I put a few spoon fulls of the bacon grease in my lima beans and ham recipe as well. I know, I know, I am bad. Great thread my friend. ~$heopleNation

Sorry,I had to post somewhere.My post count was 6666 and I had to change it.

Originally posted by SheopleNation
reply to post by Flyingclaydisk

 

Ham Hocks are great. I even add some organic - (No nitrates) bacon to my beans too. I put a few spoon fulls of the bacon grease in my lima beans and ham recipe as well. I know, I know, I am bad. Great thread my friend. ~$heopleNation

Where do you get bacon (smoked?) without pink salt? My friend processes meats/sausages this way without pink salt (nitrate/nitrate depending on the timings for the meat). If you know someone brining/smoking meats the natural way, that's great =)

Originally posted by Philippines

Originally posted by SheopleNation
reply to post by Flyingclaydisk

 

Ham Hocks are great. I even add some organic - (No nitrates) bacon to my beans too. I put a few spoon fulls of the bacon grease in my lima beans and ham recipe as well. I know, I know, I am bad. Great thread my friend. ~$heopleNation

Where do you get bacon (smoked?) without pink salt? My friend processes meats/sausages this way without pink salt (nitrate/nitrate depending on the timings for the meat). If you know someone brining/smoking meats the natural way, that's great =)

Just want to keep this thread, and question alive. It is Sodium Nitrate/Nitrite that are the preservative salts by the way, I typo'd them. Looking forward to any response...

reply to post by Philippines


You can find it. Trader Joes has one. Applegate is just one brand. It's pork shoulder or pork belly. They are just labeled uncured, which means no sodium nitrates added. Some of the brands also use natural celery powder in order to preserve. ~$heopleNation

reply to post by texas thinker


I lived in Texas for about a year and then Tennessee for 6 years and loved the pinto beans they serve with most meals. Yes they are incredible and they can give you tips on how to cook them to avoid the gas. And yes I did make some this weekend and still have leftovers. Thanks to the Op for the menu idea for a good Sunday afternoon meal!!

Originally posted by SheopleNation
reply to post by Philippines

 

You can find it. Trader Joes has one. Applegate is just one brand. It's pork shoulder or pork belly. They are just labeled uncured, which means no sodium nitrates added. Some of the brands also use natural celery powder in order to preserve. ~$heopleNation

I see, thanks for the info. I thought it was direct from the butcher/pig owner. If the meat is uncured does that mean not brined? Just plain meat?

I have not heard of celery powder as a preservative. Usually it is sugar/salt/temperature to my knowledge.

Thanks again for the response! =)

reply to post by Philippines


Yeah, Some use natural celery powder. However, The natural way from the butcher sounds great to me. You obviously know more about it than I do. I just try to purchase the best meat products that I can. No problem, have a good one. ~$heopleNation