Beans, Beans, The Magical Fruit

No, this post isn't about gas. I suppose there could have been a good gas story had I actually eaten a bowl of this bean soup...but I didn't have more than a spoonful or two. Let me tell you why...

I knew it was bound to happen, but I didn't expect it so soon....

I had an Auntie Ina fail.

Since it was chilly and grey out, I decided to make soup. The Roasted Potato Fennel soup was a big hit last weekend. There were at least 5 other soup recipes to try out in the book, so I chose Rosemary White Bean. It seemed just right for a dreary day.

The first thing I noticed about the recipe was that Auntie wanted me to soak the beans for the soup overnight. I have never soaked beans before, I always just used the kind in a can. Believe me, I was tempted to skip the process but figured that the point of cooking through this book was to follow the recipe to the letter and do things just as Auntie Ina suggests.

So, I dumped a pound of white beans into a bowl, covered them with water, and stuck them in the fridge last night.

The rest of the ingredients were simple enough. Onion, garlic, broth, rosemary, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Still wondering what magic those soaked beans would bring versus my canned ones, I started cooking this afternoon.

I sauteed the onions and garlic in olive oil. After they were translucent, I added the beans, stock, rosemary, bay leaf, salt and pepper. All she wanted me to do was bring to a boil and then let simmer.

This sounds way too easy. There has to be more, right?

In the meantime I decided to make the Parmesan Croutons to go with the soup. Sliced baguette brushed with olive oil, salt, pepper and Parmesan baked in the oven.

Those came out of the oven looking gorgeous. Even the kiddo liked them despite the fact that he isn't a cheese fan.

Here is the recipe for those:

Parmesan Croutons

When the soup was done I eschewed the food mill again and used the immersion blender. It came together nicely, looked decent enough, and smelled pretty good. I took a sip and immediately was overwhelmed with.....

Nothing.

Seriously. NOTHING. It tasted like a whole lot of nothing. Now I know I didn't do anything wrong. Yes, I could taste some rosemary but other than that it was just blah. I added some more salt and pepper. Still blah. I fed it to my husband, who ate the whole bowl but agreed that it was missing something. His idea was to use some tabasco sauce. I guess you could if you're into that. Not my thing.
I thought it would benefit from some sort of pork product. Pancetta, ham, bacon. Something smoky and meaty. That didn't go over too well with the resident vegetarian. SO.....I have a big pot of blah sitting on my stove.

When I checked out the Food Network site to see the reviews for the recipe I noticed I was not alone. Most everyone felt the need to add something to it. Chicken, sausage, carrot, ginger, celery, etc. No one wanted to vomit from it, but very few thought it was one of her best recipes. Myself included.

So, I am going to write this one off as a dud. Everyone has their off days....even Auntie Ina!