Ham and Bean Soup

There is nothing like a piping hot bowl of ham and bean soup on a cold evening.  I served some homemade cornbread with my soup.

I started my soup with a bag of bean soup mix.  I discarded the flavoring packet that was included.  After soaking the beans overnight, I added some meaty ham hocks and 2 quarts of my smoked turkey stock.

I simmered the beans for two hours.  Then I added one onion, 5 carrots, and 2 stalks of celery, all diced.  For seasoning I mixed in 1 tsp. of salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper, 1/2 tsp. thyme, and 1/2 tsp. marjoram.  I continued to simmer the soup until the carrots were tender, about 40 minutes.

Turkey Pot Pie

Turkey Pot Pie

Ingredients

5 cups turkey stock

6 carrots, diced

1 onion, diced

3 potatoes, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

1 tsp. thyme

4 cups turkey, cooked and diced

½ cup sour cream

2/3 cup wondra flour mixed with 2/3 cup water

1 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed

Directions

In a large pot, combine stock, carrots, onions, potatoes, celery, seasonings, and turkey.  Simmer for 45 minutes or until vegetables are softened.  Stir in the wondra/water mixture.  Simmer until thickened.  Stir in the sour cream.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Pour the soup into a pie pan.  Cover the pie pan with the thawed puff pastry.

Place pie pan on a cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes, or until the puff pastry is golden brown.

Modified from a recipe by Jamie at http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/individual-turkey-pot-pies/

Smoked turkey stock.

Today I am making smoked turkey stock to use in my turkey pot pies and my ham and bean soup.

 

This simple but flavorful stock is just carrots, celery, onion, and garlic that I add the bones from my smoked turkey and cold water.

I season it up with a bunch of parsley and several bay leaves. I usually do not add salt to my stock, I prefer to season it when I cook with it.

My First Post!

I am so excited for the first entry on my blog.  I have been posting items to the FoodBuzz website, but I figure I can get a more impressive blog here.  I plan on posting about my family table.  I have started utilizing a weekly meal plan.  I will post my weekly menu and maybe some pictures of the food too.  Today will not be that interesting though.  I fortunately get a break from cooking tonight by attending the soup supper at the Methodist church.