As I am on a soup diet, which seem strange but works for me, I am preparing this from an old recipe book. Although the dried beans are taking hours longer than the recipe suggests, I think it will work out okay. As the recipe is for 12-14 people, I am cutting it in half, which will give me a few meals. If it works out okay, Michelle might want some of it too. 2 ham hocks 2 cups dried beans (your choice), well rinsed 2 onions 1 bunch celery (chopped, leaves and all) 2 cups canned whole tomatoes, broken up 12 carrots, chopped 1-2 cups chicken broth 1 teaspoon basil 1 tablespoon salt ½ pound smoked Polish sausage, thinly sliced 2 zucchini, coarsely chopped 1 pint sour cream fresh parsley, chopped Place ham hocks, beans, onions, and celery in a large kettle. Add water to barely cover. Bring to a boil, then immediately lower heat. Simmer, covered, until beans are tender; about 2 ½=3 hours. Remove ham hocks and set them aside. Add tomatoes and carrots to soup, along with the broth and seasonings. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. During that time, remove meat from hocks, discarding all fat. Skim as much fat from the soup as possible. Return meat to soup, along with the sausage and zucchini. Simmer for 5 minutes. To serve, top each steaming bowl of soup with a good dollop of sour cream and chopped parsley for color. My observations: Immediately lowering the heat after bringing to a boil was a mistake. Every other time I have cooked dried beans, I would let them boil longer, stirring frequently. That didn't look like nearly enough beans for that kind of volume, so I added another ¼ cup. I am using a pork shoulder instead of a ham hock so that I don't have to mess with the bone. I am using fresh tomatoes instead. That's not nearly enough salt. I am going to skip the sour cream.
It's still cooking, largely because I followed the directions rather than my experiences in cooking the beans. Seven hours later and they are still crunchy.
Sounds good....except for the zucchini...I like zucchini but I can't imagine it in a hearty bean and sausage type soup.
Ham hock and sausage...…........love those two meats. We will be making ham hock and black eyed peas, for "Good Luck" on New Years Day 2019.
Beans are kina funny critters. A lot of the cooking time depends on barometric pressure and elevation. For instance: In New Orleans at 6 feet below sea level, Red Beans will be ready to eat in about 2 hours but the same measurement of beans need to be in a pressure cooker in Denver at 5281 feet above sea level and will still take double the New Orleans prep time.
I love Ham Hock and vegetable soup... but I wouldn't like half the ingredients in yours Ken. Leave out the tomatoes, the zucchini , the polish sausage and the cream, and it would be fine for me... but then I am very fussy when it comes to food... My winter soup consist of Ham Hock boiled, then removed...then add more already boiled water , carrots, potatoes, Lentils, Barley ( not always barley) cabbage or kale , and that's it.. the ham takes about an hour and a half, then the veggies take about 40 minutes.. I slice the Hock up into bite size chunks and add some back to the soup...and either eat it chunky or blitz it for a smooth delicacy...yummm... if blended then you can add natural yogurt on top, or even some double cream and a sprig of parsley or rosemary ..
The soup was very good. I'll do it again, only I will boil the beans a bit longer before reducing the heat to simmer, and I'll add a few more of them than the recipe calls for. I think the tomatoes worked well, and zucchini doesn't have much taste so I could do with or without that. The Polish sausage was a plus, and I never considered the sour cream. That seemed just wrong.
Hungarians use sour cream a lot, especially in a soup like that...it's good. And I'm not a big fan of sour cream but it works....sometimes they combine sour cream with half and half or cream and add that at the end.
Yep! Many Hungarian dishes are based on paprika and sour cream. Mainly paprika...think it's in almost everything except chicken soup, lol. I haven't made it's since my husband died but think I will once I get back from daughter's.
This sounds good, Ken. Do you ever cover your dried beans with water and pre-soak them? That cuts cooking time dramatically.