![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Cooking for One
Jan. 30th, 2016 03:11 pmIn the past I've always felt very much demotivated when HWMBO goes off to Singapore to visit his family for Chinese New Year. I don't want to cook, I spend too much time online, I go to bed late, I wake up early, all that and more. So this year I decided that perhaps I'd at least remedy the "no cooking" part of this.
I saw a bag of dried black-eyed peas in Tescos, and thought to myself: Bean Soup. I got some other things, and this morning, right after breakfast, I put it together. At around 1:30 PM, it looked like this.
It smells heavenly, but I'm going to let it mature overnight and have some for lunch tomorrow. In the fridge some of the grease that's left will solidify at the top and I'll be able to skim that off. Here's my recipe.
You can put any sort of bean into this soup, but it's probably best to have a small pea bean type such as navy beans, black-eyed peas, or the like. Kidney beans would be too big and overpowering. Wash the beans and soak them overnight. Then drain and rinse them, put them in a pot, cover with cold water, bring to the boil and boil for 10 minutes. Then turn the heat down to simmer and keep them going for 1/2 hour. This is very important, as raw beans are poisonous, as well as being pretty difficult to eat. Then drain and rinse them yet again. They will now be fit to use in your soup. Set them aside in a colander until needed.
I used a whole head of garlic, peeled and chopped. That's because I like garlic and the bacon flavour would probably overpower it.
Then chop 1 bell pepper, 1 medium onion, and a few stalks of celery. Put all this in a bowl and put aside for the moment.
Now take one package of smoked bacon lardons and one package of smoked back bacon, cut into smallish squares. Put some olive oil in the pot and when it's nice and hot dump in the lardons and bacon, stirring well until they're a bit brown. Add the garlic, let it mix for around a minute, then dump in the vegetables. At this point turn the heat down just a bit, cover the pot, and sauté everything for 5-7 minutes.
While they're sautéing, get two Knorr's Ham cubes and crush them in a measuring cup, then add boiling water to maybe 3/4 of the way up the cup. Once the vegetables are tender, add the beans and pour the ham stock you just made over them, adding additional water if required. You probably won't need additional salt, but grind some pepper in it and add some thyme, maybe 1/4 teaspoonful. Bring it to the boil for 5 minutes or so, and skim whatever scum rises to the surface. Then turn down the heat to a simmer and cover the pot. Simmer for a couple of hours. Taste and correct the seasoning if required.
I tried a little bit, and it tastes really good. Be careful of added salt, as ths stock cubes are plenty salty enough for this soup. I'm going to have it with a small salad and a stick of French bread. The amount I've made will probably last for quite a while so I may freeze some for enjoyment later. If HWMBO is very lucky, I might have some left when he gets back.
I saw a bag of dried black-eyed peas in Tescos, and thought to myself: Bean Soup. I got some other things, and this morning, right after breakfast, I put it together. At around 1:30 PM, it looked like this.
It smells heavenly, but I'm going to let it mature overnight and have some for lunch tomorrow. In the fridge some of the grease that's left will solidify at the top and I'll be able to skim that off. Here's my recipe.
Bean with Bacon Soup
You can put any sort of bean into this soup, but it's probably best to have a small pea bean type such as navy beans, black-eyed peas, or the like. Kidney beans would be too big and overpowering. Wash the beans and soak them overnight. Then drain and rinse them, put them in a pot, cover with cold water, bring to the boil and boil for 10 minutes. Then turn the heat down to simmer and keep them going for 1/2 hour. This is very important, as raw beans are poisonous, as well as being pretty difficult to eat. Then drain and rinse them yet again. They will now be fit to use in your soup. Set them aside in a colander until needed.
I used a whole head of garlic, peeled and chopped. That's because I like garlic and the bacon flavour would probably overpower it.
Then chop 1 bell pepper, 1 medium onion, and a few stalks of celery. Put all this in a bowl and put aside for the moment.
Now take one package of smoked bacon lardons and one package of smoked back bacon, cut into smallish squares. Put some olive oil in the pot and when it's nice and hot dump in the lardons and bacon, stirring well until they're a bit brown. Add the garlic, let it mix for around a minute, then dump in the vegetables. At this point turn the heat down just a bit, cover the pot, and sauté everything for 5-7 minutes.
While they're sautéing, get two Knorr's Ham cubes and crush them in a measuring cup, then add boiling water to maybe 3/4 of the way up the cup. Once the vegetables are tender, add the beans and pour the ham stock you just made over them, adding additional water if required. You probably won't need additional salt, but grind some pepper in it and add some thyme, maybe 1/4 teaspoonful. Bring it to the boil for 5 minutes or so, and skim whatever scum rises to the surface. Then turn down the heat to a simmer and cover the pot. Simmer for a couple of hours. Taste and correct the seasoning if required.
I tried a little bit, and it tastes really good. Be careful of added salt, as ths stock cubes are plenty salty enough for this soup. I'm going to have it with a small salad and a stick of French bread. The amount I've made will probably last for quite a while so I may freeze some for enjoyment later. If HWMBO is very lucky, I might have some left when he gets back.
