My mom made a soup like this when I was growing up, but it’s not one of the soups I adopted. Recently I decided to revisit this green bean soup and found that it’s actually better than I remember. The broth, with a little sweet cream in it, reminds me of the Zuppa Toscana soup at Olive Garden. How much better can it get?Here is the recipe – a combination of ideas of how my Mom would have made it and the Mennonite Treasury.
Ingredients:
1 lb smoked ham hock
½ dried red hot pepper
10 black pepper kernels
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 large onion, chopped
2 - 3 carrots, chopped
2 medium potatoes
6 cups chopped (frozen or fresh) green beans
summer savory
1 bouillon cube (chicken or beef) if needed, for extra flavor
Cover ham bone with about 8 cups water in large pot. Tie spices into cheesecloth and add to pot. Bring to boil, take off scum, and simmer about 1 hour. Take out ham bone. Add vegetables and cook another hour. While vegetables are cooking and after ham has cooled somewhat, remove ham from bone, chop into bite size pieces and return to pot. About ½ hour before it’s done, add a handful of summer savory, tied together for easy removal. If you can’t get summer savory, use a tiny sprinkle of thyme. Add ½ cup sweet cream or sour cream, before serving. Enjoy a trip down memory lane.
Oh I can taste it through your photo. My Mom use to make this too. Thanks for the recipe. I'm going to make this very soon. Kathy
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lisa, this is a must this week. This sounds just like my mom's recipe, and I am so glad that you posted it.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Alvina
What a familiar sight this soup is!! THANKS!!
ReplyDeleteI've recently discovered your blog and I appreciate both the Menno and non-Menno recipes! This soup is going in my recipe box.
Thanks!
My husband's favorite soup...I'll try your version next time I make it!
ReplyDeleteOh I absolutely love love love this soup....so does my family. I make mine vegetarian although my Grandma made the best ever and she made it with a ham bone too. The wonderful aroma of summer savory would greet us when we would open the back porch door to Grandma's kitchen after a long car drive to visit the Grandparents in their little town in Saskatchewan....wonderful memories come with this post. Thanks Anneliese. By the way...where or where can you find fresh summer savory? I am going to have to grow my own this summer.
ReplyDeleteTrish,I get the summer savory at a local farmer's fruit and vegetable stand now in the summer (of course) and dry it. I used to not know where to get it or what it was even called in English, since my mom always called (calls) it Pfefferkraut.
ReplyDeleteThis recipe reminded me of my mother's wax bean soup. The yellow wax beans were used and half and half cream was added at the end. The red hot pepper is something new but I'm up for a change.
ReplyDeleteI heart your blog. Thanks.
who ever hasn't made green bean soup is surely missing something. there is really something very comforting about it, a long staning mennonite family tradition. it looks great.
ReplyDeleteOh this looks yummy! It's finally going to cool down in Southern California this weekend. Time for soup!!
ReplyDeleteOh this is one of my favorites. . .I'll go and stick it in the Mennonite section now.
ReplyDeleteOh, this looks great! And I can get most everything here ... do you think canned ham would be an acceptable substitute?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, Jules, canned ham wouldn't do it! It has to be smoked ham of some version. . . smoked sausage would work . . . but I know pork is not something you will find too easily in Indonesia. To get flavor, you could just make sure you add more bouillon and onion.
ReplyDeleteThis soup is so great, a slite vareatoin from my mothers,using the same basic ingredence have made many excellent fresh bean soups. The ham hock,rather than just some ham makes a big difference..summer savory A must,,don't be afraid to play around with it ...Ron
ReplyDeleteThis is an old family favorite--yummy! Worth the effort. If you can't find Summer Savory (Pepekrut) we have used fresh or even dried Dill. Honestly we LOVE the dill flavor with the smoked ham and beans...mmm. Also, since we are meatatarians, and ham hocks can be devoid of much meat, I've even added chopped ham steaks to add a little more meat per bite.
ReplyDeleteCan we just have zweibach with it, too?! :-) p.s. my grandpa used to always add a little sour cream or even a tsp. of vinegar to his broth!
Oh, this is making me hungry! My grandma made the best Green Bean Soup. Of course, she cooked without a recipe so I can't really duplicate her version. I've never seen it made with carrots in Kansas though.
ReplyDeleteThis was always my favorite soup growing up, so I can't tell you how happy I was when I discovered your recipe is even better than my mother's (sorry, mom). I just love it!
ReplyDeleteThanks
i've been craving this soup for awhile now and was devastated to discover that summer savory is not available anywhere here! my mom and dad are bringing some down for me from their garden on their next trip, but i'm thankful i read all the comments and saw that fresh dill could be a tasty substitute. i'm going to try it!
ReplyDeleteThis looks wonderful. I have some ham boullion and since it has ham in it, wonder if that could be used. Susan
ReplyDeleteSusan, I have never heard of ham bouilon, but it sounds like it would be good to use for this soup. Why not try it?
ReplyDeleteI have taken to using liquid smoke for recipes I either want to adapt to vegetarian or decrease the amount of ham or sausage. I'd imagine it should work for this if you have no alternative. Be careful to use only a scant amount as it can end up tasting unpleasant if you overdo it.
ReplyDeleteI love to make Green Bean Soup but I use dried Summer Savory and it works just as well. My dad used to grow it and then dry it and he'd always send me some, but he died so I no longer get the home-grown stuff. I have since bought it in the grocery store and on-line as well; just make sure you buy Summer Savory and not Savory which doesn't add the unique flavor. I also use leftover ham cut up and it works well too.
ReplyDeleteMy made this for my sister and I for lunch yesterday; it was very good. My dad, who is living elsewhere at the present time, was very jealous as it is his favourite soup. I may make it myself (found summer savory at the store today).
ReplyDeletewe always use pioneer farmer sausagae in this recipe .. it is so good im going to make it tomorrow and also gramma always added the summer savory still on the branches right at the begining
ReplyDeleteI subscribe to Allrecipes.com for their slow cooker recipes and got this in my email this evening and thought that it sounds a lot like Schaubel Zup: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Cooker-Green-Beans-Ham-and-Potatoes/Detail.aspx?ms=1&prop25=80813157&prop26=DailyDish&prop27=2012-04-04&prop28=DailyRecipe&prop29=FullRecipe&me=1
ReplyDeleteI made this soup today with my left over Easter ham bone and meat and it was SO GOOD... the smell alone as it was cooking transported me to my Oma's kitchen... it tasted as good as I remembered it :) Maybe better! Thanks for posting this recipe!
ReplyDeleteAmanda, I am so happy to hear that! =)
ReplyDeleteI just made green bean soup this evening, and I thought it was missing something so I found your recipe here! I always make it with farmer sausage too (Pioneer of course!) and I added my own summer savory that we grew in a pot on the deck. The recipe from my mom only has a list of items she usually adds, and not the amounts or anything like that. Also, I think she may have usually added cream, which I didn't remember. Anyway, I will try some of your tips because this soup is wonderful with the fresh green beans we are picking from the garden now. Have you tried it in winter with beans that you've kept in your freezer? I am curious how that would work.
ReplyDeleteWorks great with frozen beans.
DeleteI have even used canned green beans when I didn't have the real thing, and it still works and tastes great. This is my menu for supper tonight!
ReplyDeleteThis Green Bean recipe is how I first found you girls years ago...way before your were famous! ;) Making it again today because I just found fresh Summer Savoury at Hofstedes Country Barn...NEVER get that fresh here...so excited!
ReplyDeleteAbout 30 years ago a 5 star chef at the Ski Resort had "Country Soup" on his menu. It had diced bacon, potatoes, green beans, summer savory ! ! ! Schaubel Zup ! ! He wasn't Mennonite but he's lived in Manitoba for many years.
ReplyDeleteThe recipe you have is just like my Moms' minus the carrots (claimed they didn't go together) but I might try them someday :-) Since it's so hard to find good, real, dry cured, smoked ham, I use Menno Sausage regularly.