Bean Soup

Ingredients:

1 lb. dried beans (see note)
1 ham hock
2 large dried bay leaves
1 yellow onion, medium dice
1 large carrot
1 large stalk of celery
water, to cover

Method:

1) Rinse the beans and drain. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt (I use a small pinch).

2) Bring 4 cups of water to a bowl and pour over the beans. Let them soak overnight to fully hydrate.

3) Drain and rinse the soaked beans and put them in the slow-cooker along with the ham hock, bay leaves, onion, carrots, and celery. Cover with fresh water.

4) Set the slow-cooker to its high temperature setting and let it come to full heat (this may take around 2 hours if you start with cold water). Once the soup is as hot as it will get, turn the slow-cooker to its low setting and cook for 4 hours (or until done).

Notes:

You can use this as a general template for any type of bean soup. I like to use Roman beans (also known as Borlotti or Cranberry beans, and sometimes sold as habas romanas) but you can also use pintos, navy, dried limas, chick-peas, etc.

With regard to the flavors, if you want to use a different cooking liquid, omit the ham hock and use your liquid of choice instead of the water. Some options might be chicken broth or vegetable broth. For a preference, try to use a low salt broth since cooking it will reduce the broth and increase the perceived saltiness.

Additionally, you can change the character of your soup by adding different aromatics. Instead of the classic Western mix of bay, onion, carrot and celery, you can use chopped ginger and garlic and chile peppers for a more Asian flavor. Or use pork (rib bones would be ideal), some tomatoes, chiles, onion, bay and a bit of cumin seed to send it in a Latin direction.

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:

1 cup margarine
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Method:

1) Beat the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until mixed thoroughly.

2) In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking powder and salt. Stir to mix thoroughly.

3) While mixing the wet ingredients on medium speed, add the dry ingredients in manageable amounts (about a third at a time). Mix just until you get a well-amalgamated dough. Do not overmix.

4) Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill thoroughly, preferably overnight. When ready to bake the cookies, combine the cinnamon and sugar together in a shallow bowl. Preheat your oven to 375. Make sure the racks are arranged toward the middle of the oven, not at the top and bottom.

5) Take teaspoons of the chilled dough and shape into 1-inch diameter balls, working quickly so that your hands don't heat up the dough. Roll each ball in the cinnamon sugar to coat thoroughly. Place the balls on an ungreased baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each ball.

6) When you have two sheets full of snickerdoodle balls, place them in the oven. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Check your first batch (through the oven window) and take the cookies out when they have spread out but are still puffy and are starting to turn darker gold where they are in contact with the pan. Make a note of the exact time and use that for the remainder of your cookies. You can also try rotating the pans (switch them from lower to higher rack and vice versa, and turn them around as you do) to help promote even baking. But only do this if you are able to do it quickly, since having the oven open to long when you are doing it will reduce the heat and make your baking less consistent.

7) When the cookies are done, remove the sheets from the oven and set somewhere heatproof. Working with one sheet at a time, lift the cookies of the sheet with a spatula and set them on a cooling rack (or on a flat space covered with some newspaper if you don't have enough cooling racks) Let them cool thoroughly before packing them up for storage.

Notes:

Although everyone thinks that you have to use butter for good cookies, if you are planning to store the cookies for a while (for example, if you are making a batch to last over the holidays), margarine is a better choice. Butter in baked goods has already been destabilized by the baking and goes rancid more rapidly, spoiling your cookies. Margarine-based cookies will taste good longer. If you are using margarine, though, be very careful to check for the ratio of fats to water. You want at least 80% fat for cookies. More than 20% water will cause your cookie dough to get pasty and gluey and the cookies won't hold their shape and will get hard when baked.

For vanilla, you can use pretty much any kind you like. It's a matter of personal taste. My family prefers Mexican vanilla extract (and I make my own with cognac and vanilla beans), but plain extract is just fine. And quiet frankly, vanilla flavoring (the artificial kind) is just fine for most things.

Join Ken's Kitchen

Get fresh recipes and cooking tips weekly