Senate Bean Soup with Buttermilk Cornbread

Snowfall from my kitchen window.

Snow means comfort food is on the menu. 

This soup is a classic pairing of beans and ham, and is based on the Senate Bean Soup that has been on the menu in the U.S. Senate's lunchroom every day for almost 100 years. It's said to have been a favorite of Senator Ted Kennedy. My adaptation is from a recipe I found in Cuisine at Home, one of my all-time favorite recipe sources. This one was a big hit with my husband, Gary. He's a Libertarian so I didn't mention the Kennedy connection.

Senate Bean Soup served with Buttermilk Cornbread

Senate Bean Soup

Makes about 12 cups or 8 servings. Soak time: 8 hours or overnight.  Prep time: 30 minutes. Cook time: 4-5 hours (high); 5-6 hours (low).

This is a slow cooker recipe, and also uses dried beans which need to be soaked. So this is definitely a meal to start the day before you plan to serve it. But the time you actually spend cooking is minimal.   NOTE: Do NOT add salt to beans until the end of cooking time.  Salt toughens the beans before they tenderize, making them nasty nuggets. 

Ingredients:   

1 lb. dry Navy beans (or other white beans), sorted and rinsed
            12 cups water (6 to soak beans, 6 for soup)
            1/2 tsp baking soda
            2 Tbsp unsalted butter
            2 Tbsp olive oil
            1 cup diced carrot
            1 cup diced celery
            2 cups diced onion
            2 Tbsp minced garlic (more or less, according to   your preference. I use LOTS. Garlic has lots of antioxidant health benefits.)
            1 1/2 - 2 lbs smoked ham hocks
          1 bay leaf
            (1 cup leftover ham)

          1/2 cup instant potato flakes 
             1/4 cup minced fresh Italian (flat leaf) parsley
             Salt and pepper to taste

   

Soak the beans 8 hours or
overnight.

SOAK rinsed and sorted beans in 6 cups water in a large pot, covered and refrigerated, for 8 hours or overnight.

Adding baking soda helps
the beans soften and
cook faster.

AFTER SOAKING, add 1/2 tsp baking soda to the pot. Bring beans to a boil on med-high and then turn them down to med-low to simmer for 10 minutes.  

(While the beans are simmering, save time and cut up the vegetables for the next step. You can throw the onions, carrots and celery together in a bowl. Keep the garlic separate for now.) 

Some fugly-looking foam will arise. Skim this off and discard. Drain the beans and rinse them well to remove any nasty foam vestiges. Transfer the beans to a 6 qt. slow cooker and stir in 6 cups water.

Add garlic after the
mire-poix has softened.

MELT butter and olive oil together in large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and carrot (also known as mire poix, worthy of a post of its own) and saute, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. 

After the vegetables have softened, add the minced garlic and cook for about a minute, or until you get a nice nose-hit of ode de garlic. The reason you add it later is because garlic turns bitter quickly if it browns. You don't want any of this mixture to brown.

Transfer the vegetables to the slow cooker.

ADD the bay leaf and ham hocks to the slow cooker, making sure they are submerged under the liquid so they don't dry out. 

COVER AND COOK 3.5 to 4.5 hours on high or 4.5 to 5.5 hours on high, or until beans are tender.

Hocks submerged.

REMOVE ham hocks and let cool slightly until safe to handle. Personally, I wear non-latex gloves in the kitchen a lot to protect my hands and this is one time when they come in really handy.  When the hocks are cool enough to handle, use your hands to pull meat from the bones, and this is much easier and more pleasant when gloved. Discard the fat and bone, and cut meat into bite-sized chunks.  Return the ham to the pot.

If you like extra ham in your soup, and you have leftovers from the holidays, this is the time  to add in a cup (or as much as you like) to the pot. You can certainly use deli ham if that's what you have. It's a good use for it when you have more than you think you will be using for sandwiches before the expiration date.

SEASON with salt and pepper to taste. It's always better to season later in your cooking process, especially if you are using any ingredients (like ham) that have salt content to begin with. Salt increases in intensity as food cooks down.

STIR IN potato flakes and parsley. The potato flakes help thicken the soup slightly. NOW is the time to start your cornbread is you are serving it with this meal, and it's a perfect pairing with things hammy. The soup will simmer for 30 more minutes, or about the time it will take to make and bake the cornbread.

Buttermilk Cornbread

This recipe is a little different from the one on the cornmeal package. It uses buttermilk, which produces a tender crumb, and honey as the sweetener. So it's a fairly Southern take on cornbread.

PREHEAT oven to 425. Always bake in a preheated oven, and always check for doneness sooner rather than later in the suggested baking time.

Ingredients:

1 cup white or yellow cornmeal

1 cup unbleached flour (I use unbleached flour for everything unless a specialty flour is called for)

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 tsp Kosher salt (I also use Kosher salt all the time)

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup honey (although you can use white sugar if that's what you have)

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

COAT and 8 inch cast iron skillet with non-stick cooking spray. No, you don't have to use a cast-iron skillet -- you can use an 8 inch cake pan or 8 inch square brownie pan. But cornbread in a cast-iron skillet is traditional, and gives a nice crispy texture to the sides and bottom which is great mouth-feel combined with the melt-in-your-mouth buttermilk crumb.

WHISK together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

COMBINE buttermilk, honey, eggs and butter. Beat them together. I do this all in a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup to save on clean-up: I measure in the buttermilk and honey first, then the two eggs and beat them together. Then I slowly pour in the melted butter while whisking. I melt the butter ahead of time in the microwave and pour it in slowly, last, while whisking, because you don't want the hot butter to cook your eggs. Then you have scrambled crap. Not good.

STIR wet ingredients into dry ingredients just until the dry is thoroughly moistened. Don't overmix or use a hand mixer.

POUR batter into prepared skillet and bake 15-20 minutes. Err on the 15 minute side in case your oven runs hot. You want the top lightly browned and it should spring back if you gently push it with your finger. 

Remove from the oven and let cool slightly while you stir and ladle up your soup. 

Serve the cornbread on the side with butter, or you can serve a wedge of cornbread in the bottom of the bowl and ladle the soup over it the way Paw-Paw would.