RECIPE TITLE "Garbure Bearnaise (Bearn Country Soup)"
recipe excerpted from : Twelve Months Monastery Soups Copyright© 1998 by Victor-Antoine D' Avila-Latourrette

4-6 portions---easy

  RECIPE INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound navy beans
• 4 quarts water
• 2 leeks, cut julienne style
• 2 turnips, sliced
• 1 small carrot, sliced
• 1 small cabbage, coarsely chopped
• 20 green beans
• 6 potatoes, peeled and left whole
• 6 sweet Italian sausages
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 pound salt pork (bacon fat)
• salt and pepper to taste
• bouquet garni (1 bay leaf, 2 sprigs thyme, and 4 sprigs parsley, tied together and removed before serving)

  RECIPE METHOD

1. Soak the navy beans overnight or at least for several hours. Drain and rinse them. Wash and prepare the vegetables. Pour water into a large soup pot and add all the vegetables except the potatoes, bouquet garni (bay leaf, thyme, parsley tied together), and garlic. Cover the pot and cook the soup slowly over low-medium heat for about 1 l/2 hours. Add more water as necessary.
2. Add the whole potatoes, herbs, sausages, garlic and bacon fat and continue cooking slowly for another hour and 15 minutes. At this point, taste the seasonings and add salt and pepper. (It may need very little salt because of the salt pork). Take out the whole potatoes, sausage, and pork and keep them in a warm place. Simmer the soup for 15 minutes, remove the bouquet garni, and then serve it hot, accompanied by slices of French bread.
3. After the soup, serve the potatoes and the sausages on a separate plate (1 for each person), accompanied by a fresh green salad and more slices of French bread (you may pour some vinaigrette over the potatoes).

   Garbure should be served at the table steaming hot, and it should be accompanied by plenty of French bread and red wine.

We recommend:

Twelve Months Monastery Soups Twelve Months of Monastery Soups: International Favorites "Of soup and love, the first is best." Brother Victor-Antoine makes a passionate case for this Spanish proverb in Twelve Months of Monastery Soups, bringing easy, delicious, soul-satisfying soup recipes from the monastery to your kitchen. From simple, clear broths to thick, hearty soups, there's a recipe to appeal to every taste. Arranged by month with an eye toward seasonal variety and at least one recipe for every vegetable native to North America, the 175 soups include classic favorites such as Cream of Corn and Tomato and more unique recipes such as Jerusalem Artichoke, Provenþal Rainbow, and Danish Onion-Champagne. With inspirational quotes proclaiming the goodness of soup sprinkled throughout and beautiful period block prints, Twelve Months of Monastery Soups is a celebration of the art of soup-making.