White Bean & Ham Soup and Whole Wheat Rolls

Yesterday was gorgeous and springy, with lots of sunshine and birdsong. I spent the afternoon and part of the early evening putting in most of our garden.  I planted tomatoes, a couple of butternut squash plants, peppers, basil, and some late lettuce plants, and also sowed the seeds for three types of pumpkins, green beans, cucumbers, acorn squash, and more butternut squash. When I began, I thought, our garden space is so large, I certainly will have lots of room left but by dinner last night I was thinking we really need to till up another garden plot.

Here's the sketch of this year's planting!  I will be rotating in zucchini, yellow squash, more tomatoes, and more beans in a week or two.

I wanted to get everything in yesterday because I knew today was supposed to be rainy, and it is! In fact, it's both rainy and cold.  I had to wake both of my children around 8:30. We have spent the morning reading in separate corners of the living room while the washer and dryer do my chores.  It's not even lunchtime and I've already had a cup of coffee and a cup of Yorkshire Gold tea!  

Well: some days are meant to be quiet and cozy, so I'm just going to let this one unfold that way. If the rain ceases later today, I'll take my walk; if not, I'll just make peace with having a sedentary Tuesday!

One extra cozy thing to have on a rainy, cold day is soup.  I make lots of different soups, but this one is a newer favorite.  Although I tend not to eat much meat, this soup does contain ham, because it adds such a good flavor.  It's the simplest soup in the world to throw into the crockpot in the morning, and it cooks all day and infuses the house with coziness.  Later today I'll start a batch of rolls with freshly-milled wheat--another cozy touch, and another recipe I'll include below!

White Bean and Ham Soup

1 lb. dried white beans (great northern or navy) 

32 ounces chicken stock 

2 cups diced ham*

1 onion

3 cups water

Place these ingredients into a crockpot and turn it on high.  Let it cook all day; after a few hours I usually turn it to low or warm and let it simmer.  

Half an hour or so before serving, stir in 1c. of milk (or, if you're really needing some energy, heavy cream or half-and-half!). 

The recipe is deceptively simple!  I'm serious: this may be my favorite soup of all-time. The flavor combination is just so satisfying on a cold day. 

Easy Whole Wheat Rolls 

1 c. warm water

1/4 c. sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. salt

2 T. butter

1 packet (or 2.5 tsp) yeast

3 1/4 c. flour** 

Combine 1 c. warm water and yeast in a bowl, and stir.  Let it sit for a few minutes.

Add 3 c. flour and 1/4 c. sugar plus 1 egg and 1 tsp salt, then chop the 2 T. butter into bits and add that. Mix with a dough hook. (I have also just mixed by hand.)

If the dough is still too wet, add 1/4 c. flour and mix. It should form a ball that is not sticky. 

Cover with a towel and let rise 1.5 hours. 

Flour hands and punch down dough, then form it into a ball again. On a lightly-floured cutting board, cut the ball in half, then cut eat half in half again, and so forth, until you have 16 mostly-equal pieces of dough.  Form these into roll shapes and place in a lightly-greased pan.

Cover with a towel and let rise 45 minutes.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Optional: brush tops with butter when they are hot out of the oven. 

*      *      * 

I like to serve the soup and rolls with a side of fresh fruit (or a salad for grown-ups who like raw vegetables!).  And that's dinner here tonight!

*For the ham: I buy a ham and dice it (a laborious task made better by listening to something uplifting) and freeze in 2 cup quantities in quart freezer bags for the sole purpose of making this soup! Because frankly, we don't eat ham otherwise--but it's so nice to have on hand for soup.

**You may use all-purpose flour, or half all-purpose and half whole wheat; I grind wheat berries and make these rolls 100% whole wheat, but I don't think you can do that with store-bought wheat!