Senate Bean Soup

My one project for this lazy day was to make some Senate Bean Soup, from a recipe in my Rancho Gordo cookbook. I've made a couple of other recipes from this book, and both have been lovely. This one is, too.

The day began by soaking the Yellow Eye beans in cold water for about 4 hours. The book says 2-6 hours and I don't think it matters a great deal. Here, they have just been drained and are about to hit the cooking pot with a couple of ham hocks and some bay leaf.



After about an hour of steady simmering, I added the parsley, celery, onion and garlic, plus salt and pepper. From here, another hour or so of steady simmering produced tender beans and meat. Unfortunately, the ham bones didn't have much meat on them, but that's not the recipe's fault.

When I first tasted the soup, I wasn't impressed. But, after it cooled off and sat awhile, I heated a bowl up for dinner and it was luscious! I don't know if letting it sit helped the flavors meld, the soup thicken a bit, or what, but it's rich and flavorful and a keeper.

Doesn't exactly look like the soup in the book photo, but what the heck. I never claimed to be a food stylist.