Happy International Chefs Day, as well as an early National Food Day!
BEAN SOUP (Like Chef Frank’s at The Voyageur)
By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – Best Of The Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 122). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition).]
When you ordered bean soup at The Voyageur (St. Clair, MI), you could be sure it was a “from-scratch” recipe, prepared just as Grandma would have made it, but Chef Frank added a little more artistry than Grandma.
Chef Frank Krzywiecki made his soup creations such that you looked forward to each one of them. And, as well as he knows me, nothing would prompt him to give me his recipes! I have come close, but I still do not know for certain if Chef Frank uses the same ingredients that I do!
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound of dry, uncooked Northern beans
10 cups of water
1 teaspoon of my Salt Spice Mix (see Index)
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon powder
¾ teaspoon hickory flavored salt
¼ cup of my homemade Onion Soup Mix (see Index) – or use one envelope of store-bought version
6-ounce can tomato juice
1 tablespoon dry minced parsley
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
INSTRUCTIONS:
Put beans in a shallow, ungreased pie tin and bake at 375°F for 20 minutes. Transfer the beans to a 2½-quart sauce pan, adding water, Salt Spice, pepper, onion powder, bouillon powder, salt, and Onion Soup Mix – and allow the mixture to come to a full, rolling boil for 1 minute.
Then turn heat to lowest point. Continue cooking on low, letting it simmer for 2½ hours – set your timer! Stir it frequently and keep the pot covered. To be certain the soup will not scorch, I placed the blades of 2 table knives, crisscrossed, between the burner and the bottom of the pan.
Test beans for complete tenderness after the 2½ hours are up. If they aren’t quite soft, continue cooking until they are. Then remove 1 cup of the beans and ½ cup of the broth to put in your blender and purée it for 30 seconds on high-speed. Return this mixture to the remaining soup, which then acts as a thickening agent.
Stir in tomato juice, parsley, and butter or margarine. Heat thoroughly and serve. Makes 2 quarts. Serves 6 to 8. Leftovers freeze well up to 6 months.
See also…
