Ham and Bean Soup variations!

[coloradoclyde]

Sure!....I'll PM it to you...

 

[tenngun]

Yeah, but we can run with this, how about goulash, or Wiener schnitzel cheese cake et al. There is chili,and there is all the chili flavored foods. Right after getting married I had two brand new step children. I made mac and cheese one night, the kids turned up their nose to it,while my wife looked askance at it.all they had ever had was the blue box stuff. And it's only in my nightmares I remember cooking Finn and haddie for my new family.

 

[Black Hand]

Some dishes are good, others are bad while some are inedible. This country tends toward a desire to "improve" things that don't require improving and the results are often less-than-stellar.

I realize my statement is a little general, but it is generally the experience I've had with Italian food cooked in this country. However, having been raised on the real stuff cooked by actual Italians does tend to bias my view (just a little)...

 

[coloradoclyde]

I'll agree that I have never had good fettuccine from a restaurant......Usually it's a cold, gluey, tasteless glop on a plate... :barf:

And I've ate in some expensive restaurants....In their defense, I can't make it well myself either... :haha:

 

[Black Hand]

When places charge $17-20 for a plate of pasta, I get concerned. Unless the pasta is covered with gold-leaf, no pasta dish is ever worth that much (I also have a problem with places that serve Uncle Ben's converted rice instead of cooking good rice).

On New Years, Italy serves lentils cooked with Zampone or Cotechino - delicious! Zampone might put some people off, as the seasoned, ground pork is stuffed into a boned-out pig's trotter - https://www.bing.com/images/search...id=OIP.QLB9_U8gUrsae2RUZBPxBAEsDG&ajaxhist=0.
http://www.cliffordawright.com/caw/recipes/display/recipe_id/776/

 

[tenngun]

Ah yup

 

[coloradoclyde]

The Zampone looks a bit freaky.. :shocked2:
But the lentils look tasty.

 

[Black Hand]

Looks odd but is very tasty. It's really just a sausage - http://www.academiabarilla.com/the-italian-food-academy/meats-charcuterie/zampone-modena.aspx

 

[coloradoclyde]

We eat with our eyes first.... :haha:

 

[Black Hand]

May not even crack the top 10 of weird-looking stuff I've eaten...

 

[zimmerstutzen]

It is amazing the variations. Thursday night at our lions club, we had ham and bean soup. There were these white slivers in it. Asked the cook if that was tofu. No she said their own special touch. Chopped hard boiled eggs. It was darn good ham and bean soup, but the rubbery eggs bits kind of took away from the texture I expected.

Blasphemy!

 

[Dr5x]

Black Hand,
I just spent an evening with a world traveler who said the best food in the world is Italian, but you have to get it and eat it in Italy

I wouldn't know. Never been there.

Dutch.

 

[Vaino]

After spending many months in Spain and "trying everything", my conclusion is that Spanish food is the best in the world. Many people think it's similar to Mexican...nothing like Mexican.

The Spaniards don't use much pasta in their food....in fact I never ate any dishes that had it.

One of my daughters-in-law is Spanish and is an excellent cook but has to substitute Anerican ingredients which somewhat detract from her dishes.....not her fault, just can't get the "real things" from Spain.

The Spaniards use the faba bean in their bean dishes.....it's a very big bean and is the main ingredient in fabada and pote. If interested, look these up on the internet. Tried making these dishes but again had to use American "stuff" and it doesn't produce these Spanish dishes....my daughter-in-law does a better job of it than I do, but even her attempts aren't the same as using Spanish ingredients.....Fred

 

[Black Hand]

Having been raised on authentic Italian food, I prefer other cuisines because I ate it all the time. Now that I have moved away, I miss the foods of my youth as it reminds me of happier times. But I do agree that for the best of anything, one must go to the source. Seemingly insignificant things can make a big difference in the final product.

I encourage all to travel if possible - It was such an eye-opening experience for me. Americans are far more insular than they should be, but I also realize that economics or circumstance make it difficult for many to travel.

I still remember the everyday food my Sicilian grandmother would make. The simple ingredients were transformed into works of art, not so much in complexity, but flavors - much like the impressive buildings of Europe were built from simple, ordinary stones...

 

[Billnpatti]

It truly is mighty tasty. I have eaten it several times in the Congressional Dinning Room in D.C. :thumbsup: Have you tried the U.S. Senate Bean Soup? It, too, is quite tasty. It is a thicker soup almost like a chowder or potato soup in consistency.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I have to laugh when folks talk about Italian food. What region? The food of Sicily is different than Tuscany and different from Northern Italy, where it can become almost Swiss/German.

There are specialty foods here that have their roots in German peasant food, but the ingredients and textures of the same dish vary almost every 15 miles as you travel through the area. Shoe Fly pie for example, varies immensely. Wet bottom, dry bottom, dark black strap molasses, lighter refined molasses or dark corn syrup, light syrup. even honey. I grew up on the really black strong black strap version with wet bottom. Too strong for many. If a person makes it with light syrup, it does not even look right. Same for Scrapple/pon haus/mush. It varies in ingredients, taste, consistency and look, but is basically the same thing. Chicken corn soup varies the same way here. Ham and bean soup. We have three kinds of ham soups. Ham and dried bean soup that you are discussing here. (often has grated carrot and diced tomatoes just enough to add a little color) Then a watery soup made with chunks of ham, green beans and potatoes. Lastly, Schnitz und Knepp, Ham and dried apple soup. (Dark brown dried apples) A bit disgusting looking. Something I can avoid from decade to decade. ( but was apparently a traditional dish since colonial days now being fast forgotten)

 

[Black Hand]

I have to laugh when folks talk about Italian food. What region? The food of Sicily is different than Tuscany and different from Northern Italy, where it can become almost Swiss/German.

Collectively speaking, it is still Italian food. However, much of the crappy "Eye-talian" food in restaurants is more Northern Italian in character. Pasta, a fundamental dish of all Italy, is by far the most common to be utterly ruined by restaurants, closely followed (or exceeded) by Pizza. Let's not even get started with the quality of the food at Olive Garden, Johnny Carino's or the like. Foul, the lot of them....

 

[coloradoclyde]

Olive garden is just an Italian themed McDonalds.... :td: :barf:

 

[Black Hand]

I've managed to avoid eating at Olive Garden thus far - Their commercials are enough to turn my stomach. If they were honest and called it Italian-inspired food, I'd be less offended, but I still wouldn't eat there.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I must admit, the best meal in my life was in Barcelona. Found a family restaurant down by the port..., and the cost at the time was under $10.00 including two beers.

The pasta in Naples was the second best and it was a close contest.

I'm lucky that my best buddy the chef has family that hails from Florence, Italy..., so when I have the time I can turn out some "acceptable" Italian food. My wife worked for years for Spaniards, and they taught me a great deal about their food too.

A grandfather in Texas, and a Godfather in Mexico (Mexican cuisine and TexMex are not the same either) so I'm pretty blessed.

Which explains my Santa Claus physique. :rotf:

LD