Senate Bean Soup

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This soup needs a ton of thinning. It gets like paste. Had to keep adding chicken broth. The flavor was bland until adding a lot of salt & pepper. I ended up adding leftover gravy from Christmas dinner which really helped both seasoning and thickness.

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I havent't really tried it yet, but i will. Can this soup be cooked in a crockpot?

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I have made thus numerous times over the past year. Today I used 4 cans of great northern beans, chicken stock and leftover ham! The corn muffins took longer than the soup. Great weeknight meal>

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This is nearly like my mom made it when we were growing up, not in the south, but in the midwest (Iowa. Do NOT puree the beans - it makes the soup too pasty. It will be a soup with a watery broth. You can reheat and eat this soup for several days and it gradually get thicker. Add water or chicken stock to thin it down if you want. My mom would cook this soup nearly all day, being sure to add water as it cooked down, otherwise it turns to a sticky mess. A hamhock or ham bone are a must. Definitely don't salt until it's completely done, let everyone salt there own. A good dose of pepper is importatnt too. Yummy! I guess you can add celery and carrot, as some have suggested, but it's not the same soup. There is no "senate bean" as someone asked, this was soup served in the Senate. :

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Everytime I make bean soup, I use this recipe. Sometimes I do it exactly and other times I do it different and add my own zip to it. But either way it always turns out wonderful...... Love Paula Dean

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Simple and good

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our clients did not seem eager for this soup - a bit bland was the comment but we kee trying other of paula's treats...thank you for considering to add calories per serving & other nutritional information......meals for seniors & shut-ins aprreciate you GREATLY!!!!!!

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I live in Michigan and have grown and use Michigan Navy Beans. Paula's recipe is close to the original. Here is the original U.S. Senate Bean Soup (1872: (2 lbs or 4 1/2 cups (dry Navy Beans, 1 1/2 lbs. smoked ham hocks, 4 qts water, 1 medium onion chopped, 1/4 cup butter, salt and pepper to taste. Sort and rinse beans until white. Put on stove with four quarts of hot water and ham hocks. Cover, boil slowly for approximately 3 hours. Saute the onion in butter to a light brown and add to soup mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (Do not add salt until ready to serve. This soup is much better the next day!

I have made bean soup this way for sixty years. Any other additions are not original. They are your taste.

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You don't have to saute the onion separately. And everything (except salt can be put in the pot from the beginning - so the flavors meld together as they cook - maybe some fresh ham at the end. Add the salt once the beans begin to soften, otherwise, the centermost part will have a "gritty" feel. And if it's too pasty, add more water before it gets to the "pasty" point. This is a good tasting soup as is, but because it's a soup, put in whatever makes you happy! Bay leaf, thyme, celery, garlic (yes! - I like to add a can of Rotel 'maters or omit the ham and add crumbled bacon as a garnish.

I have some on the stove now and am actually measuring the water - which I've never done before. 1 1-lb pkg of beans and started w/2 qts water. Just added another qt and suspect yet another will be added before they're done. The recipe bean/water ratio is crazy off kilter.

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This was really gross. It was super bland and it had a really thick, paste-y texture. I followed the recipe exactly, so I don't know why it's so bad. Afterwards I tried to doctor it up, but it didn't work. I think I'm going to have to dump it down the toilet. :*(