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Thursday, January 31, 2008

Taking Stock



So I skimmed the fat off the stock I started last night, heated it up a bit to help things flow and strained it.

I ended up with slightly more than two quarts of stock, which I'll no doubt supplement with some chicken broth as the soup comes together.



It's going to be a seven bean soup: I washed the beans and tossed the floaters this evening and they're soaking now, so I can cook them tomorrow with the stock and sausage and some veggies that won't get strained out of the soup.

Why a seven bean soup? Because seven felt lucky? Because there was a finite selection in one pound bags? Because I'm a dork?



What we have soaking is a pound each:

Navy Beans
Pinto Beans
Black Beans
Baby Lima Beans
Red Beans
Kidney Beans
Great Northern Beans

If I went to the Whole Paycheck Market, I could get a dozen more kinds of legumes, and I could go in, say, half pound increments to compensate for the fact that even a big freakin' stock pot is not without volumetric limits.



I'm still debating the tomatoes. I have a can of crushed and a can of diced tomatoes I think I'm going to add to the soup when it all comes together, but I'm not sure. The stock tastes pretty damn good now, and part of me says 'go ahead, the tomatoes will add some tang to it,' and the other part says 'leave well enough alone.'

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