This recipe comes courtesy of the person who makes me laugh harder than anyone else I know. And that is saying something. My friend Kristy (aka Kristen Beckman, fka Kristy Green) was introduced to me by our mutual friend Denni (aka Dennis),who also happened to be engaged to my sister. Our bond was instantaneous, and has stood the test of time (20 years to be exact). It is actually her Grandmother's concoction, and like most old ladies, she didn't write anything down. Thus, leaving the heirs to the cooking fortune to wing it. When she first sent it to me, she had no picture, so I delayed the post. Luckily, she was cleaning out her refrigerator at work and found a container, yum. From reading the recipe, it sounds like a pretty straight forward bean soup (except for the ketchup). I have only made soup from a ham bone once (see Split Peabody and Sherman Soup), as I usually make Pasta and Bean Soup that has prosciutto as it's delicious meat base - but that's for another day and another post. As for Kristy's Grandmother's soup, some day I am going to have to try it, I'm sure I'll like it.
So Captain Kangaroo, you know I watched it. I know the Captain (Bob Keeshan), Mr.Green Jeans (so famous that he has his own soup), Bunny Rabbit, and Dancing Bear. Mr. Moose and the famous ping pong balls. But really, not one of my favorites. I loved Mr. Dress-up more (uh oh, my Canadian slip is showing) and Mister Rogers and of course Sesame Street. But, I will acknowledge that without the Captain (and probabltyTenille) we wouldn't have had Pee-Wee's Playhouse, so homage I will pay. I mean it ran for like thirty years, which is how old I am when I lie about my age. The show hosted a cavalcade of stars like Ruth Buzzi (which is just fun to say), Minnie Pearl and Fanny Flagg. And, was set in the "Treasure House" (not unlike Pee-Wee's "Playhouse") and featured a Magic Drawing Board (not unlike Pee-Wee's Magic Screen). Regular characters included both humans and puppets (not unlike Pee-Wee, blah, blah, blah, blah). I think I will write my doctoral dissertation on the pop culture influence of early children's television on the Saturday morning shows of the 1980s.
Kristy writes: You would've laughed at me writing this. I've never written a recipe in my life. It was hard! I'm calling it "Mr Kristy Green Jeans Bean Soup" but obviously since this is your blog, you get to make the call. :-)
So Captain Kangaroo, you know I watched it. I know the Captain (Bob Keeshan), Mr.Green Jeans (so famous that he has his own soup), Bunny Rabbit, and Dancing Bear. Mr. Moose and the famous ping pong balls. But really, not one of my favorites. I loved Mr. Dress-up more (uh oh, my Canadian slip is showing) and Mister Rogers and of course Sesame Street. But, I will acknowledge that without the Captain (and probabltyTenille) we wouldn't have had Pee-Wee's Playhouse, so homage I will pay. I mean it ran for like thirty years, which is how old I am when I lie about my age. The show hosted a cavalcade of stars like Ruth Buzzi (which is just fun to say), Minnie Pearl and Fanny Flagg. And, was set in the "Treasure House" (not unlike Pee-Wee's "Playhouse") and featured a Magic Drawing Board (not unlike Pee-Wee's Magic Screen). Regular characters included both humans and puppets (not unlike Pee-Wee, blah, blah, blah, blah). I think I will write my doctoral dissertation on the pop culture influence of early children's television on the Saturday morning shows of the 1980s.
Kristy writes: You would've laughed at me writing this. I've never written a recipe in my life. It was hard! I'm calling it "Mr Kristy Green Jeans Bean Soup" but obviously since this is your blog, you get to make the call. :-)
The Recipe (as written, no bloggger discretion advised):
Start with a ham bone, preferably with meat still on. I like to use leftover spiral hams. Simmer the bone in large stock pot full of water for 1½ - 2 hours. I do not add any salt to the water but I do add a small onion (quartered), 2-3 bay leaves (depending on size), 1-2 whole cloves (or a couple good dashes of ground cloves) and a few dashes of celery salt, garlic salt and black pepper.
After simmering is complete, remove the bone/meat and strain the broth (to remove the onion which I don’t like in the finished soup – but by all means keep it in if you prefer). This also helps remove any fat or gristle that came off the bone/meat during cooking. Add broth and meat back to pot. (I also put the bay leaves back in.)
Now the rest of the ingredients I do not measure. This is how my Grandmother and Mother did all their cooking so I am making my best guestimates for purposes of this recipe. So go ahead and add to the stock:
- 2-3 large cans (strained) of any type of white bean (navy, cannellini, great northern, etc.) I prefer great northern beans but can’t always find them here in sunny AZ so I use cannellini.
- 3-4 large carrots sliced, diced or however you prefer your carrots in soup
- Appx. ¼ cup brown sugar
- A couple of good and healthy squeezings of ketchup (I use Heinz 57 brand, any other brand would be blasphemy) I forgot to mention that this last time I made it, I had saved the pan-drippings from when I cooked the ham. So I added about 3 heaping tblsp. of that when I added the ketchup, etc.
Bring all this back to a boil and simmer for another hour or so. After I bring it back to the boil, I taste the broth to see if it needs more ketchup, sugar, etc. What is affectionately known in our family as the “dump and taste” method of cooking.
Bring all this back to a boil and simmer for another hour or so. After I bring it back to the boil, I taste the broth to see if it needs more ketchup, sugar, etc. What is affectionately known in our family as the “dump and taste” method of cooking.
This is best served piping hot with fresh baked bread and butter or cornbread muffins. My Grandmother would make it with diced celery however I am not a fan of cooked celery so I do not include it. Enjoy!\
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