The recipe:
3/4 to 1 cup dried black beans
4 cups water
1 ham hock, dainty and wee if you can find it. You won't need a big one.
1 bay leaf
Before you do anything else, throw the above in a pot big enough to fit with room for the hock to wiggle its toes. Bring it up to a boil, slap a lid on it, and drop it down to a simmer. Give it some time and space. Not too much. You may need to replace some water if things get all dried, but some. You've got 90 minutes and up to two hours. Now you can use canned beans and you can omit the hock if dealing with a smoked pig foot bothers you. You could simply use the liquid from the can in the soup and add....I dunno....1 tsp of smoked hot paprika, but could doesn't mean should.
1/2# raw italian sausage or more , casing removed. Hot or mild to taste.
1 small red onion
2 carrots
3 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp each dried oregano and thyme
4 cups chicken stock (go organic and low sodium. Better for you)
1/4-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
So you've finished watching a movie (Kiss kiss, bang bang is 103 minutes. Just saying) and the beans look like a bubbling black pit with a foot in it. Well done. Moving on. Take a second pot (big enough to fit everything we're working with) and splash in some olive oil. Put heat to it. Toss in the sausage and bash it around with whatever implement of destruction you choose. Brown it up. When that's done, toss in the veggies minus the garlic. I'm assuming you chopped them into whatever size bits you're comfortable with. I'm not the chop police. As long as they aren't whole. Cook them unto softness. Brown is okay. Add your garlic. Cook unto fragrance. Add stock. Add herbs.
Consider the beans. They should be edible at this point. Remove the hock and add the whole damn thing to the soup. That's if you did it right. If you cheated, you'll add the whole can of beans with liquid and hopefully you can sleep at night. The soup should be fine. If you want more meat, you can shred the tasty hock meat and add it with the rest. If not, pitch it. It's done the job. Give it a bit to come together. Taste. Adjust seasonings to suit. Eat with bread and beer.
The blog, because I always hate it when the blog comes before the recipe. Sometimes I only want to cook.
I looked up my father on facebook today. I blame my girlfriend. We got talking about Father's Day. I didn't remember that it always comes on a Sunday for reasons. She laughed at me, and asked about my dad. When I'd last seen him. She loves me. She wants to help by talking, and she doesn't understand. I talk a little, but it's been a while since father's day was a problem. We move on. It was a good night.
Still.....with the internet. Everybody is online. He probably is too. It hasn't been a problem in a while. Easily a decade. That father's day I spent about eight hours firing hockey pucks into a cinder block wall, but that was a long time ago.
I know what my mother has told me about my father. My older brother looks just like him. My sister does too minus the obvious differences. I know my half sister. I know about the man he killed driving drunk. I know about the stalking. I saw him at my grandmother's funeral when I was a kid, but despite this when I looked him up on Facebook today I couldn't remember what he looked like and gave up after a few profiles. I'd poked enough tp satisfy curiosity.
This Sunday, my daughter will post something on my Facebook. She usually finds something appropriate. Last year it was Stannis. I may not know my father, but at least I have that. It makes things easier on the pucks at least.
