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Kidney Bean Soup
I PINT CAN KIDNEY BEANS I QUART CAN TOMATOES I TEASPOON SUGAR 4 TABLESPOONS SHERRY SALT AND PEPPER Put beans and tomatoes in double boiler and cook until pulpy, strain, season to taste with salt, pepper and sugar, reheat, add sherry, or leave it out.
A two-can soup of the sort camp and cabin cookbooks favored: nothing perishable, nothing to measure closely. The only real technique is the straining, which turns a coarse bean-and-tomato stew into something soup-like.
- Can sizesA pint can of kidney beans corresponds to roughly a modern 15-16 oz can, drained weight around 9 oz. A quart can of tomatoes is 32 oz; the nearest common modern size is the 28 oz can of whole or crushed tomatoes.
- Double boilerA double boiler guards against scorching a thick purée. A heavy saucepan over low heat works and cooks down faster; stir often, since tomato and bean purée catches easily.
- "Until pulpy"Expect 25-40 minutes in a double boiler, far less in a direct pan. The beans should collapse under a spoon before you strain.
- Straining is the hingePushing the mixture through a sieve or food mill is what makes this a soup rather than chili. It also removes tomato seeds and bean skins, which are the two things that make an unstrained version taste rough. A blender gives a smoother but heavier result; a food mill is closer to the original texture.
- ConsistencyAfter straining the purée is usually thick. Thin it with water, bean liquid or stock to the body you want before the final reheat.
- The sugarOne teaspoon is there to balance the acidity of the canned tomatoes. Taste before adding it; canned tomatoes vary and the sugar may be unnecessary.
- SherryThe recipe adds it last, after reheating; keeping it off the boil preserves the aroma. Four tablespoons is assertive in a soup this size; start with two. A dry or medium sherry suits it better than cream sherry.
- YieldRoughly a quart to 1 1/2 quarts depending on how far it is cooked down and thinned; three or four bowls as a first course.
Canned kidney beans and canned tomatoes became cheap and reliable pantry goods after commercial canning expanded in the late nineteenth century: they kept indefinitely and needed no ice, which made them useful for cooking away from a kitchen. The sherry is offered and immediately withdrawn -- "or leave it out" -- leaving the finish to the cook.