The Soaked Bean

Seeking Nourishment, Finding Traditions

Solstice Stone Soup

By

soakedriceToday is Winter Solstice, or Yule, the darkest day or longest night of the year, a major turning point in the wheel of the year for light is beginning to return, the Sun king or Sun goddess or God-like figure, depending on yr vantage, is born again, hallelujah, blessed-be, the darkest hour is here and soon will be gone, will be light.

As it turns out, the darkest hour is b4 the eggnog.

Christmas (celebrated just a mere handful of days after Solstice) is one of those holidays whose more earthly (read: pagan) roots have somehow slipped through the cracks, persisted.  The yule log, the mistletoe, the evergreen branch bespotted w/ trinkets, the orange pin-cushioned w/ cloves, the (yes, really) glass of eggnog; no matter what yr spiritual persuasion, whatever holiday you celebrate come December, you’re probably also enacting some age-old traditions and celebrating (even if unawares) not just birth of deity, but more earthly delights, things specific to this point in the season, when we stop leaning away from the light and start leaning toward it.

navets spinach carrots

What better reason to celebrate and merry-make?!  This Solstice, I’m giving you a most practical gift.  A how-to on soup.  That’s right, soup.  Stone soup.  You know, the kind of soup you can make w/ whatever you have on hand.  The kind of soup that gives new life to a bowl of soaked grains or beans, a bunch of wilting spinach, those few forgotten carrots.  Basic soup.  The kind of soup I imagine simmering in a cast-iron cauldron over an open hearth in a cabin in the mountains centuries ago.  The kind of soup I make in my kitchen almost weekly.  Improvisational soup.  The kind of soup that needs, not a strictly adhered-to recipe, but only some gentle guidance.  Self-love soup.  The kind of soup that is deeply–bone-deep, blood-deep, soul-deep–nourishing.

Winter is officially here and what better gift to give yrself and/or yr loved ones than a bowl of all that?

solsticesoup

Stone Soup How-To:

Preface:  There are two cooking habits to get into groove w/ for maximum stone-souping this Winter.  They couldn’t be easier, but they do require a bit of time and forethought.

Habit #1:  Soak some grains.  And/or beans.

There’s a reason for this blog’s name, y’all.  Getting into the habit of always having a bowl of some grain or bean soaking has made preparing nutritious meals on-ze-fly easy as can be for me.  Simply measure out a cup of whatever grain or bean you haven’t used in a while (I rotate through different varieties of rice, spelt-berries, wheat-berries, barley, polenta, black beans, flageolets, etc., etc.) into a bowl, cover w/ warm water and a splash of something acidic (apple-cider-vinegar, lemon, sauerkraut-juice) and let sit overnight or at least 7 hours.  This deactivates compounds that bind-to and prevent absorption of certain nutrients.  Having a bowl of a grain or bean soaking on yr counter everyday means that you’re eating different whole grains and beans everyday which means that your fiber intake is probably soarin’.  More fiber = better digestive health = better overall health.

Habit #2: Make bone-broth. Lots of it.

Having a freezer full of bone-broth is like having a secret spin-straw-to-gold kind of goblin in yr very own kitchen (and w/o all the weirdness regarding yr first-born).  See my how-to on broth here.

Onto the recipe! I’m detailing the last version of stone soup I made, w/ brown-rice, lots of spinach, carrots, turnips and potatoes, but don’t pay as much attention to the specific ingredients as to the method.  Feel free to make adjustments, substitutions; to improvise as you see fit.

#1.  Dice onions.  I usually use at least one large yellow onion to start my stone-soup.

#2.  Heat large, cast-iron pot on medium heat.  Add big knob of ghee.  Let melt and add onions.  Sprinkle w/ salt and stir.

#3. While onions are cooking, prepare your other vegetables:  mince garlic (I like to use 5+ cloves), dice carrots (usually 2), cube turnips and potatoes (2 of each), chop dark leafy greens (I use the whole bunch.  These will cook down a lot, so don’t be shy).

#4.  Add your vegetables to the pot as they’re ready.  Add more ghee if things are looking dry.  Add salt.  I usually follow the above order (1st garlic, then carrots, and so on).  Stir.

#5.  Drain yr grains or beans.  Add them to the pot.  Stir.

#6.  Add your bone-broth along w/ a bouquet-garni (thyme, sage, rosemary, bay laurel).  If you don’t have enough broth to cover the contents of yr pot, add some water.  Turn heat to high.

#7.  Once pot is boiling, skim away any surface impurities (the foam that rises to the top).  Turn heat to low, put lid on pot and simmer.  Simmer as long as it takes to fully cook yr grain/bean, checking tenderness of vegetables while you go.  For this brown-rice version, it took 40 minutes.  For bean versions it’s taken 1+1/2 hours.

#8.  Ladle up and enjoy w/ drizzle of olive oil, plop of sour-cream, squeeze of lemon, and/or whatever else floats yr vessel.

Yule tidings to ye, and merry stone-souping!

Papa Olive’s Pot-au-Feu

By

veggiepile It’s March.  Hooray?

March may be home to the official start of Spring but, despite those handfuls of gorgeous, blue-skied days, it still gets cold, bitterly so (especially for those in the arctic zone formerly known as the Northern United States) and it certainly isn’t a month without its hardships.

I think this French proverb captures the mood of our current month best:
En Mars, quand il fait beau, prends ton manteau.
(In March, when it’s beautiful out, take your coat.)

Take. Your. Coat.

It’s a transitional month and one that can be confusing for mind, body, spirit and, as illustrated above, wardrobe.

carrotstixcloveonion

Perhaps these are the founding qualities behind Fun-a-Day, a March tradition created by the members of a sweet community in northern Michigan.  You choose a project for the month–haiku-writing, beer-brewing, bread-baking–that you do every day and at the end of the month you meet with the other participants and share your results.

I learned about this tradition in the summer, and, while I didn’t get to participate, I got to see some results of a few projects, and the sentiment behind this tradition–a way of combining personal new or challenging experiences with community and shared experience to cope with a month that can be trying–has stuck.

So much so that I’m declaring March a collaboration celebration on this here blog.  Every week, I’ll post an entry from a friend as well as my own weekly entries featuring a recipe from, or inspired by, a family member.

This weekend keep your eyes peeled for the first collaboration, an entry that celebrates the approaching arrival of Spring.

For now, I’m taking my coat and posting a last winter recipe for these last winter days: Pot-au-Feu, the traditional, broth-y, vegetable-brimming version.  It’s a simple recipe, one from Lulu’s father–Marco, or Papa Olive for those whom he gifts olive oil and honey to on the regular–, a wool-blanket-around-the-shoulders kind of meal, deeply nourishing and satisfying without a lot of fuss.

potatopeelin

Peel Yr Potatoes

In fact, the only fuss in this recipe is the peeling of a few potatoes.

While it may seem like an anathema to some holistically-minded folk, yes, I peel my potatoes.  Potatoes contain toxic compounds called glycoalkaloids, which function as a kind of natural pesticide, or protection, for the potato and are the reason why some folks avoid foods from the nightshade family (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant) altogether.

Glycoalkaloids are especially concentrated in the potato’s skin.  You’ve probably been told to avoid green-hued potatoes, or ones that have started to sprout.  This is because the glycoalkaloid content is very high.

Glycoalkaloids are why potatoes can be said to be inflammatory and I often wonder if those who report symptoms (like headaches, bloating, swelling) would find the experience of a peeled potato better.  (Anyone out there who can speak to this?)

potatopeels

In any case, I hope this recipe lends some brightness to you during these oft-rough first weeks of March.

Merci Papa Olive!

cookedpotpotfeuolive-21

Print
Papa Olive's Pot-au-Feu

Ingredients

  • 1 pound beef shoulder
  • few marrow bones
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 leeks
  • 2 onions
  • 2 parsnips
  • 4 potatoes, peeled
  • 1 celeriac, de-bearded and peeled
  • 2 turnips
  • 1 rutabaga
  • 2 teaspoons cloves
  • 4 bay leaves

Directions

  1. Slice beef shoulder into big chunks. Add meat and marrow bones to large stockpot and fill w/ cold water. Put on high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, take off heat, drain water and remove meat and bones from pot. Wipe pot clean.
  2. While meat and boils are boiling, cut all the vegetables, except the onions, into big chunks -- you want them to be roughly the same, big size (remember, they're going to cook for a few hours). Peel your onions and stick the cloves in the skin (the onion is your pincushion, the cloves are your needles).
  3. Add vegetables, meat and bones into stock-pot. Cover with cold water. Place on stove and heat on high until comes to a rolling boiling. Skim surface for impurities, then lower. Cover with a lid and simmer for 2-3 hours, checking every so often to see if your meat is tender. Once tender, serve!

Serve with lacto-fermented pickles, grainy mustard, course salt and a chunk of sourdough bread.

It will keep in the fridge for 4 days, if well-sealed. Otherwise, it freezes well.

 

potaufeu