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This recipe is one of those which you can pull out of at any stage and eat as is once the ingredients are cooked but it matures overnight if you cook it the day before whilst waiting fo the butter beans to soak. Or you can soak them first. Then you have the choice as to whether to cook the butter beans seperately and add them to the finished soup or simply to cook them all together but the butterbeans even after soaking can take a while to cook through so depending on whether you like your soup as is or whether you want a real combination of the lovely absolute butter bean taste and the deliciousness of the soup and the soup as a whole soup, that is your choice.
Soaking the butter beans helps release agents that can cause flatulence and reduces the overall cooking time.
Dont forget to pick out any bits from the beans or damaged beans if there are any.
Fill with 4 pints of cold water a large saucepan and place on cooker.
Remove any eyes from the potatoes, wash and chop into small squares of up to 1" and add to saucepan.
Chop the ends from the carrots and slice thinly (up to half of an inch) wash and add
Chop the ends from the turnips and wash them then chop them into 1" cubes and add
Remove outer skins from the onions and chop onions very finely and add
Remove outer skin from the 5 garlic cloves, trim the ends off and chop finely and add
Bring to the boil and simmer.
Smooth / blend in hot water the 4 stock cubes and add
Add a mere pinch of salt
Add half a level tsp of ground black pepper
Add the tomato puree
Add the half level tsp compound asafoetida and stir gently with suitable long armed ladle or a long wooden spoon
Add the green beans.
With the scotch bonnett chillies, (and please be careful as i said on previous page) remove the ends and the seeds.
Try placing carefully on top of your soup or if you don't like the soup too hot, one of the chillies but don't forget to fish it out they sink or if you inadvertently move them when stirring your soup. Do this and remove the chilli after 25 minutes. But with the remaining two chillies if you don't mind a hot aftertaste, prep them up and chop them very finely and add to your soup.
Bring to the boil and simmer until all of the ingredients are softened. When checking, top up with cupfuls of boiling water from kettle if you need to to help the butter beans cook quicker and add arrowroot or cornflour in water after if it then needs thickening.
Add the lentils. And the optional turkey stock cubes. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Then if you haven't got your butterbeans soaked turn the heat off let the soup sit (covered overnight). If you have got your butterbeans soaked, add the butter beans either after the green beans. Keep your eye on them. Start off on a low simmer and bring to the boil after maybe ten minutes. Then reduce heat again to a low simmer. The butter beans can take up to two hours to cook. Check on them often. Reduce heat and use a long handled ladle to fish out a butter bean, then try piercing it with a fork, if it wont go in easily it wont be ready. Or you could do a taste test but be careful if hot.
I gave some of this soup to my neighbours too. If you want to maintain some of the greenness of the green beans in your soup try adding half of them after your soup has been cooking at its final stage for an hour. Similarly with some of the carrots. But, if you've had a few bowls, remember if dieting smaller meals more often does help your stomach learn to expect less food. The breakfast cereal producers aren't wrong.
If you aren't doing it already, think about it. Try to start with the recommended daily recommended amount usually 30g.
Maybe your own grandma indeed your grandparents were like that too anyway?