One of my all time favorite pieces of literature in any genre is the classic childrens' story 'Stone Soup'. It's a short lesson in cooperation.
Stone soup - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anyway, this is my version, which has been disparagingly called 'Cripser Drawer Stew' by a certain someone who shall remain nameless, and ate it anyway.
1/2 pound smoked meat of nearly any sort, cut into good sized chunks. Pork chops, ham, smoked turkey, proscuitto, a mix, or even sammich meat work well.
Vegetables all shoudl be cut into bite-sized pieces too:
1 turnip
1 parsnip
1 onion
1 carrot
1 celery heart (we all know the bunch of celery in your fridge is mostly mushy; you need about 2-4 inner pieces to be safe to eat still lol)
1 potato
Start with some butter or olive oil in the bottom of a really heavy soup pot or iron dutch oven. Add the meat and onion, and stir around until JUST browned.
Open a can of any type of broth. Pour in just enough to cover the meat an onions, and a few bay leaves.
Simmer until the onions are quite tender.
Add the rest of the broth, the rest of the vegetables, and a can of cannelini (white beans) or lima beans if you like them better.
Take a half head of garlic and peel all the cloves. Smash each one with the flat of a chefs knife and add to the pot.
Pepper to taste- you probably won't need salt if you used smoked salted meat.
It should cook until the turnips have softened and the sharpness is out of them.
Garnish with fresh parsley just before serving with toasted coarse brown bread.
