Soak a quart of navy beans overnight. Then put them on the fire, with
three quarts of water; three onions, fried or _sautéd_ in a little
butter; one little carrot; two potatoes, partly boiled in other water; a
small cut of pork; a little red pepper, and salt. Let it all boil slowly
for five or six hours. Pass it then through a colander or sieve. Return
the pulp to the fire; season properly with salt and Cayenne pepper. Put
into the tureen _croûtons_, or bread, cut in half-inch squares, and
fried brown on all sides in a little butter or in boiling fat. Professor
Blot adds broth, bacon, onions, celery, one or two cloves, and carrot to
his bean soup. A French cook I once had added a little mustard to her
bean soup, which made a pleasant change. Another cook adds cream at the
last moment. Or,
A very good bean soup can be made from the remains of baked beans; the
brown baked beans giving it a good color. Merely add water and a bit of
onion; boil it to a pulp, and pass it through the colander.
If a little stock, or some bones or pieces of fresh meat are at hand,
they add also to the flavor of bean soup.