Yankee Bean Soup -- Writing Down What We Don't Want to Forget

January 2020. New year, new decade. I'm not much for grand pronouncements about what the new year means—the calendar turns and the work continues and the land does what it does regardless of what we call the date. But there's something in January I appreciate: the year stripped down. Fields bare. Pantry full. Days short. Nothing to tend yet, so you tend yourself instead.

I've started keeping a food journal. Not recipes exactly—I've got those in my head or in the stack of notebooks Danny left me. More of a record of what I cook and why. What season it was, what was available, what I was thinking about when I made it. Lily's work in ethnobotany has me thinking about documentation differently, about how knowledge disappears when it's only in people's heads and what happens when those people are gone. Danny knew things that are harder to reconstruct now that he's not here to answer questions. I don't want to be that gap for someone else later.

This week I made a slow pot of chili beans using dried Cherokee Trail of Tears beans that I'd grown last summer—long, shiny black beans with a creamy texture when cooked. The variety has a history that goes back further than the name given to it by heirloom seed catalogs. I cooked them simply, with onion, a couple of dried chiles, a little pork fat, nothing that would distract from the bean itself. Wrote down the process in the journal. The way the beans need a full two hours even after soaking, the particular thickness of the pot liquor when they're done, the way the whole kitchen smells when they're right.

Kai asked what I was writing while I stirred. I said I'm writing down a recipe so we don't forget it. He thought about this and said okay. He's at the age where things being saved makes sense to him. Good.

The Cherokee Trail of Tears beans I grew last summer are particular enough that I’ll write their recipe separately, in their own entry. But the method I described to Kai—the long simmer, the pork fat, the thick pot liquor—is the same method I come back to every January, and Yankee bean soup is the version I’ve made longest. It’s the recipe Danny first showed me on a cold morning not so different from this one, and writing it down now feels like honoring both the bean and the man who taught me to respect it.

Yankee Bean Soup

Prep Time: 15 min (plus overnight soak) | Cook Time: 2 hrs 30 min | Total Time: 2 hrs 45 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 lb dried navy beans or Great Northern beans, soaked overnight and drained
• 1 meaty ham bone or 4 oz salt pork, scored
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 3 stalks celery, sliced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 cups water or low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• Fresh parsley, chopped, for serving

Instructions

1. Soak the beans. Place dried beans in a large bowl and cover with cold water by 3 inches. Soak overnight or at least 8 hours. Drain and rinse well before using.
2. Build the base. In a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, render the salt pork until some fat releases, about 4 minutes. (If using a ham bone, skip this step and add a small drizzle of oil.) Add the diced onion, celery, and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
3. Add beans and liquid. Add the drained beans, ham bone or salt pork, water or broth, bay leaf, thyme, and black pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat, skimming any foam that rises to the surface.
4. Simmer low and slow. Reduce heat to low, cover partially, and simmer for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until beans are completely tender and the broth has thickened. Stir occasionally and add water as needed to keep beans submerged.
5. Finish the soup. Remove the ham bone or salt pork. Pull any meat from the bone and return it to the pot; discard the bone and bay leaf. Stir in the apple cider vinegar and season with salt to taste. For a thicker soup, mash a ladleful of beans against the side of the pot and stir back in.
6. Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with fresh parsley. Good with cornbread or a thick slice of bread for soaking up the pot liquor.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 220 | Protein: 13g | Fat: 4g | Carbs: 34g | Fiber: 9g | Sodium: 480mg