French White Bean Soup Food

FRENCH MARKET SOUP

Steps:

• Sort beans and rinse in cold water. Place beans in a Dutch oven; add water to cover by 2 in. Bring to a boil; boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand for 1-4 hours or until beans are softened., Drain and rinse beans, discarding liquid; return beans to the pan. Add the ham hocks, water, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 3 hours or until beans are tender., Remove ham hocks; set aside until cool enough to handle. Add the tomatoes, onions, lemon juice, garlic and chili powder to the beans. Simmer 1 hour longer., Remove ham from bones and cut into cubes; discard bones. Return ham to soup. Stir in the kielbasa, chicken, wine and parsley. Simmer for 30-40 minutes or until heated through and as thick as desired.

WHITE BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Saute garlic and onion until tender, approximately 5 minutes. Stir in carrot and corn, season with salt and pepper, and cook another 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in chicken broth, beans, tomatoes, thyme, savory, and parsley, and bring to a low boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook approximately one hour.
• Separate soup into 2 equal portions, and allow to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, puree half of the batch in a blender or food processor until smooth. Return both batches to the stockpot, and heat until warmed through. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Serve hot.

FRENCH WHITE BEAN AND CABBAGE SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
• Add in the onion, carrot, and garlic; cover and cook 5 minutes or until softened.
• Transfer the cooked vegetables into a 6-quart slow cooker.
• Add in the cabbage, potato, beans, stock, and thyme; season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours.
• Just before serving, stir in the liquid smoke (if using), and parsley; taste to adjust seasonings.

PROVENCAL FRENCH BEANS

Steps:

• Place the beans in a bowl and cover with water. Soak in the refrigerator overnight.
• Drain the beans, place in a large saucepan with the chicken stock, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until tender but not mushy. Add 1 tablespoon of salt for the last 10 minutes of cooking. Drain, reserving the stock.
• In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil, then add the onions, diced carrots, and celery, and cook over low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until tender. Add the parsley, garlic, rosemary, and thyme and cook for 1 more minute. Add the beans and 2 cups of the cooking stock. (If you dont have enough liquid, add additional stock or water to make 2 cups.) Cook for 15 minutes until the stock makes a little sauce, adding more stock if necessary. Finish with the Parmesan cheese. Serve with a garnish of chopped parsley.

FRENCH WHITE BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, heat the oil over moderate heat.
• Add the onion, fennel, carrots, salt and pepper. Saute for 5 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes, stock, basil, and fennel seeds and bring to a boil. Cover, lower the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add the cannellini and simmer 3 minutes longer until heated through.
• Meanwhile, if using the pesto, combine the garlic, basil, parsley, cheese, and oil in a small bowl and with the back of a spoon, mash the mixture into a paste.
• Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish each one with a dollop of the pesto.

GARBURE (FRENCH CABBAGE AND WHITE BEAN SOUP)

Steps:

• Cook and stir bacon in a large pot until browned, about 5 minutes. Add onion and garlic; cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
• Pick meat off the duck bones and chop. Discard skin and bones. Add duck meat to the pot. Stir in chicken stock, navy beans, cabbage, turnips, celery, thyme, rosemary, and sage. Tie parsley and bay leaf together; add to the pot. Simmer until turnips are tender, about 1 hour.
• Stir potatoes and carrots into the pot; cook until soft, about 20 minutes. Discard parsley sprigs and bay leaf. Season soup with salt and pepper.

PROVENCAL HAM & BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Rinse and sort beans; soak according to package directions. Drain and rinse beans, discarding liquid. , Transfer beans to a 6-qt. slow cooker. Add tomatoes; crush with a wooden spoon until chunky. Stir in ham, vegetables, garlic, seasonings and stock. Cook, covered, on low 7-9 hours or until beans are tender. Serve with bread.

VEGAN CASSOULET (WHITE BEAN AND VEGETABLE STEW)

Steps:

• Pour a shallow layer of vegetable broth into a soup pot and heat. Sauté onion and garlic over high heat until onions start to become translucent, about 2 minutes.
• Add carrots, celery, and remaining broth and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to medium, cover, and keep cooking until carrots are softer but still firm, about 5 minutes.
• Add half of the thyme and parsley, followed by the tomato and tomato paste, stirring to combine.
• Continue to cook until carrots are fork tender and soft, but not mushy or not falling apart, about 4 more minutes.
• Stir in beans (with liquid) until well combined and add the remaining thyme and parsley. Reduce heat to low and cook for another minute or two, just to warm the beans up a bit.
• Stir and taste, adding salt and black pepper if desired. Ladle into bowls and garnish with a thyme sprig.

SMOCKED HAM HOCK BEAN CABBAGE SOUP (GARBURE)

Steps:

• The day before, add the dried beans to a bowl and cover with water. Let soak overnight, or at least 12 hours.
• Make the broth - poke the cloves into the whole peeled onion. Add the onion, celeri branch, bay leaves, thyme and ham hock into a large pot over high-medium heat. Add about 4.5 litres (18cups) of water or enough to cover the ham hock. Bring the water to a bowl, lower the temperature to low and simmer for 1 hour, covered.
• In a large frying pan, melt the duck fat over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, carrots, turnips and leek. Cook for about 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally until the leek is translucent (but not caramelized yet).
• After the one hour, add the vegetables and drained beans to the broth. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for one hour, covered.
• In the meantime, blanch the cabbage - heat up a medium pot of salted water and bring to a boil. Add the shredded cabbage and cook for 3 minutes until the leaves slightly soften. They should keep their vibrant color. Immediately transfer the cabbage to a colander and pass under cold water to stop the cooking process. Set aside to drain.
• After the one hour, add the blanched cabbage to the soup and simmer for 30 minutes, covered. Add the potatoes to the soup and simmer for 30 more minutes, covered.
• Remove the ham hock from the pot and transfer it onto a cutting board. Discard off the skin and excess fat and shred the meat with a fork; at this point the meat should fall off the bones easily. Return the shredded meat to the pot. Remove the clove-spiked onion, celeri and herbs from the pot. Discard the cloves and herbs, chop up the onion and celeri and place them back in the soup.
• Cook for 15 more minutes with no lid and adjust seasoning if needed. To test the thickness of the soup, stick a soup ladle in the pot: if it stands upright on its own, it's ready. It not, continue simmering the soup until it thickens more.
• Serve in individual bowls with a light sprinkle of red pepper flakes and big slices of bread on the side.