Heading south....Serbian bean soup.
This is one of the glories of the Serbian kitchen, one that has sustained generations of Serbs for untiold generations.
1/2 lb. dried beans (I use small white beans, limas, navy beans, etc.)
2-3 raw carrots, peeled and shredded or cubed.
2-3 red potatoes , peeled and cut into squares about 2" in diameter.
2 stalks of celery, diced
1-1.5 lbs of smoked meat/sausage/hambone with meat attached. (If using sausage, cut into serving pieces; if using hambone, leave meat attached.)
4 quarts of cold water.
salt
pepper
Rinse dried bean, place in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil. Stir occasionally to prevent beans from sticking. Salt to taste. Lower temperature and simmer until beans are almost tender (about an hour.).
Peel, cube and add veggies. Wash sausage/meat and add in suitable serving pieces about 2". If ham bone is used, or other smoked meat, add it at the beginning of the process when the beans are boiling. Continue simmering process until veggies and beans are completely cooked (another hour on slow simmer.) Ham bone may be removed at this point; cool and remove all meat from bone. Return meat to pot and discard teh bone.
[My observation: since meat may impart too smokey a flavor, you might want to boil it separately and add it back in to the cooking beans, later, having discarded the smokey water.]
"Zafrak," thickener for soup. This is what really makes the soup. This technique is used throughout Central and Eastern Europe, among other locations.
4 Tbsp. lard, bacon grease, Crisco or oil. [ I know that lard is out of favor, but it really makes a difference when you use it.]
4 Tbsp. flour
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. sweet or medium paprika [Hungarian paprika comes in about 6 levels of heat.]
Add flour to hot melted grease, stir constantly over medium to low heat. Do NOT burn the flour. It must turn deep brown slowly and completely. Add chopped onion and saute to soft texture. Not necessary to brown onion. Remove from heat, add sweet/medium paprika [use an Eastern European one, not red American red paint dust!] and return to low heat until paprrika turns ingredients to a golden brown. Use approximately one cup of bean soup liquid to zafrik, stir and add to bean soup. Continue simmering soup until it is thickened, for another 5 minutes. Season to taste. This soup ages gracefully in the 'fridge
Enjoy!
P.S. when the carpenters are finished working in our house, I will unearth my Bulgarian recipes.
Ron