Beekman 1802 - Dried Bean and Rosemary Soup

by Brent Ridge, Posted Mar 3rd 2010 @ 11:00AM

beekman 1802 bean soup Photo: Brent Ridge

By the time late August comes around, we've usually grown tired of picking green beans from the garden. So we let whatever varieties are still growing "go to seed." The pods swell, and then, as autumn descends, they brown and dry. We grow some variety of beans specifically for drying as well, but we've learned that almost any sort of bean will dry nicely and can be used in recipes all winter.

To shell a large amount of dried beans quickly, we simply put all of the dried pods into a burlap bag. We usually wait until December to do this, since we want the pods to be as dry and crackly as possible. Then we whack the entire bag and its contents repeatedly against the frozen ground. Don't hold back -- it's impossible to hurt dried beans. Sometimes we even stomp on the bag to break up the most stubborn pods. Once the beans have separated from the pods, they fall to the bottom of the bag. The pieces of dried pods are like chaff at the top. Do this on a windy day and you can pour the bag's entire contents onto a sheet or towel from shoulder height -- the pod chaff blows away and the heavier beans fall directly onto the towel to be gathered. Any remaining bits of pod will float to the top of a bowl of water when soaking the beans for a recipe.

After the jump, find our simplest, favorite bean soup for cold weather. (Use any variety, or mixed varieties, of beans. We're always amazed at the different tastes, textures, and colors possible from our dried beans.)

Dried Bean Soup with Rosemary

1 lb. dried beans, any variety
4 onions, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons lard
2 branches of rosemary, or 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper, to taste

Garnish:
Zest of one lemon
Chopped parsley
Truffle oil

Soak beans overnight in medium bowl of water.

In a soup pot, heat olive oil and lard, then sautée onions and garlic over medium-low heat until soft. Add remaining soup ingredients and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until beans are soft.

Using a hand blender, briefly blend soup in pot. (Do not purée -- some beans should remain whole.)

Chopped parsley and lemon zest added as garnish bring bright top notes to the very earthy beans. An optional drizzle of truffle oil lends an added depth.

Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell are the farmers and innovators behind Beekman 1802, a 200-year-old estate and farm in upstate New York. We'll be running recipes, photos and tales from the farm as their crops come into season.

Filed Under: Farming, Recipes
Tags: bean soup, bean soup recipes, BeanSoup, BeanSoupRecipes, Beekman1802

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