Blog Soup!

Okay, so my latest culinary adventure is not too bad. Except for being very late for dinner, because I got stuck at work late, and then the biggest supermarket in town has NO CHICKEN and I had to go to another....

Anyway. To give credit where it is due, I typed "black bean barley recipe" into Google, as I found dried black beans and barley on my counter and didn't know what to do. I reached this recipe which sounded interesting. As usual, I never manage to work entirely "by the book", nor am I precise, so here's tonights dinner soup:

4 chicken thighs, skin ON, bone IN (you can go cheap this way)
1 large carrot
4 stalks celery
1 large onion - I used a red one, probably not that important
3-4 cloves garlic (I think - I used the top 1/3 of two whole garlics, as I baked the rest)
1 cup dried beans - black, navy, pinto, whatever
1/2 cup or so dried pearl barley
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 tbsp, or to taste, dried parsley
1 tbsp, or to taste, rosemary
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp or to taste, dried mustard powder
pinch to 1/8 tsp cayenne, or a few drops hot pepper sauce (tabasco)

In advance:
Pick over dried beans, wash and drain, and soak them. Pour into pot/container and cover with fresh, cold water to a depth at least twice as deep as the dried beans or more - they expand. I prefer to soak for 24 hrs - I have heard refrigerating is recommended so they don't ferment. If only soaking overnight, don't refrigerate.

Preparation: Reasonably, it takes a couple of hours before "soups on" so this isn't a 20 minute weeknight job, but you can make lots and store it.

You need at least two large pots. One for the beans, one for the rest. You also need a strainer that won't melt in boiling water, or a collander and cheese cloth.

BEANS: Drain beans from soaking water, place in pot, fill pot to 2x depth of beans with fresh, cold water. Bring to a boil - WATCH OUT they are starchy and boil over easily. When it hits roaring boil turn down to simmer. Cook about 30 mins on their own.

BROTH: At same time as beans, fill a large stock pot with fresh water. Put in half the celery stalks, half the carrot, about 3/4 of the onion and all the garlic. Leave whole or in large pieces, eg, quarter the onion and throw 3/4 in, cut the carrot and celery at most in half. I always crush my garlic slightly to let the juice out but don't chop. Add chicken, just throw it in. Add parsley, rosemary, bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste.

Bring soup to a boil, again making sure it doesn't boil over but that's not as much a problem as with the beans. Keep it medium-high, at a rolling boil, until you have a broth. I don't have an exact time for this, I judge it by the chicken being cooked through, and the celery and garlic getting mushy. Say about 45 min. DON'T let the vegetables actually cook to mush, or you won't get broth, you'll have something more like pea soup.

LOGISTICS of Soup Assembly:

Begin fishing out veggie chunks when celery is mushy to touch. I take out mushy ones (celery, onion and garlic) first, then the carrots as they're harder, while still boiling. Boiled veggies are discarded (compost if you can). Last fish out the chicken and set aside.

Remove beans from heat, and pour water off. At this point you will need a third pot, or you can pour the drained beans into another dish and use the bean pot. Take the broth pot, large chunks all removed, and strain soup through a strainer/collander into another pot. Discard small mushy veggie bits and scum. Give broth pot a quick rinse, return broth to the pot and return pot to stove. This is now your remaining Soup Pot. Bring broth to moderate boil.

Add drained beans to broth, and add the barley. While that is starting up, shred up chicken meat, making sure to remove all fat, bone, etc. Not that it'll hurt you, its just less aesthetically pleasing to get a blob of chicken fat or gristle in soup. Add the shredded chicken back to the simmering pot.

Take the remaining carrot, celery, and onion, and chop as you like - approximately diced, larger pieces if you prefer. Toss it in the soup. Sprinkle in mustard powder, cayenne/tobasco, and additional salt and pepper if you like.

Simmer - again, timing until "done" is somewhat subjective. You want the beans medium-cooked, not mushy, or you get starchy soup. I usually judge by the onion pieces are translucent and the carrots just softening.

Take off the boil - serve right there with nice bread and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top, or divide into Tupperware and store for quick meals and brown-bag lunches!