Recipes & Cooking: November 2004 Archives

It started with a cup of dried beans and a ham hock, which I had never cooked with before. It was smoked and looked very much like an animal part, with the skin and (ugh) a few coarse hairs bristling. Very cheap, though, and it did the job in the soup.

First I soaked a cup of dried pinto beans overnight (why go to all the trouble of the quick-soak method when all you have to do is plan ahead a little?), then drained them and put them in the slow cooker with a diced onion, the ham hock (which I took the skin off of), three diced celery stalks, four cups of water, a bay leaf and some herbes de provence (because I don't have dried thyme). Cooked it on high for an hour, then turned it to low for four more. Then I added a diced carrot and a giant parsnip, diced, and cooked it for a few hours more. Shredded the meat off the hock and added it to the soup, discarding the bones, fat and gristle from it. The soup comes out thick and rustic, perfect on a rainy day with a wedge of bread.

It started with a cup of dried beans and a ham hock, which I had never cooked with before. It was smoked and looked very much like an animal part, with the skin and (ugh) a few coarse hairs bristling. Very cheap, though, and it did the job in the soup.

First I soaked a cup of dried pinto beans overnight (why go to all the trouble of the quick-soak method when all you have to do is plan ahead a little?), then drained them and put them in the slow cooker with a diced onion, the ham hock (which I took the skin off of), three diced celery stalks, four cups of water, a bay leaf and some herbes de provence (because I don't have dried thyme). Cooked it on high for an hour, then turned it to low for four more. Then I added a diced carrot and a giant parsnip, diced, and cooked it for a few hours more. Shredded the meat off the hock and added it to the soup, discarding the bones, fat and gristle from it. The soup comes out thick and rustic, perfect on a rainy day with a wedge of bread.