Cooking from the garden

Katie here. I just made a pot of Portuguese bean soup, a very popular dish here, and it turned out so well, I thought I'd give out the approximate recipe. The original recipe (actually, it's a compilation of 3 recipes from local cookbooks) called for kale and/or cabbage, but I used broccoli raab and Swiss chard from our garden, and I also used celery and Chinese celery from the garden, and it turned out very tasty! Basically, this is a soup sort of like minestrone, but the spices are very different. Enjoy!


Portuguese Bean Soup ala Katie


1 lb. pinto beans, soaked overnight
2 ham hocks
1 small can diced tomatoes
1 onion
3 stalks of celery including leaves
3 peeled potatoes, diced
3 carrots, sliced
small bunch of Swiss chard and/or broccoli raab
1-2 Portuguese sausages, sliced (or any link sausage if you can't find the Portuguese)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 c. sherry
salt and pepper to taste

*** spices to put into cheesecloth:
1 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
5 whole peppercorns
2 whole cloves

Drain presoaked beans, and add fresh water, about 4 inches above the level of the beans. Add ham hocks and boil for about an hour. Put your spices in the cheesecloth and immerse in the soup (remove before serving). Saute the onion and celery in the olive oil until the onion is translucent, then add to the soup. Add the rest of the ingredients, and let simmer for several more hours.