Roasted pork & adzuki bean soup ~

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Homework soup ~~ Insert love here.  Most mornings Former Little Dude gets himself up and out the door to high school on his own.  I'm on a two schools-three children schedule around here.  Up until this year all three were at the same school that went through 8th grade.  This year FLD not only is in high school, start time is at 7:45a., he's also taller than me by almost a handful of inches.  He's challenging as a male teenager that is never wrong and I love him anyway.  Since most mornings he is out the door before I rouse from bed, a tinge of guilt from not making him breakfast is a steady feeling early in the mornings.  I was always good at warm homemade breakfasts most mornings...until this year.  What I do now that is new and nurturing is that I have ready a good after school snack for him.  It's more like a small meal...that boy at 14 growing thing.   Today it was this soup.  "Looks like there is a lot of meat in it, Mom, so I'll probably want a lot of it."  Okay.

Got some smokey seasoning blend?  I did.   Pretty fun stuff.  I don't often purchase spice blends, but this was one of their free sample tastings.  They mixed it with yogurt for a spicy sauce to serve as a spread with a chicken patty sandwich.  We did that.   Moving onto what I used it for after that....

The prep ~
I did the roast and beans the day before making the soup

Pork roast, either shoulder or butt.  (I've been told it's the same cut.  I don't understand that, but that's what one butcher told me.)
Seasoning blend
Salt
2 T. oil
Carrots, two
Onion, one medium
Bay leaf
1 c. chicken stock


2 c. dried adzuki beans
Kosher salt

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Season the roast with salt and a smokey seasoning blend.
• Heat a  3" high saute pan over medium high heat, or use a stock pot.  Add oil.
• Sear off the pork roast, letting it brown on each side without moving it until it releases from crusting/browning.  Turn once.  When browned, remove to a plate.
• In the pan, add the carrot and onion and saute until browned.
• Add the chicken stock, scrap the bottom to release the tasty browned bits.  
• Add the roast back to the pan, cover and braised in the oven for two hours.
• Remove the roast and let cool a little before using or putting in the fridge.  Save the veggies and broth if you want to use in the soup....goooood flavor.

While the roast is cooking --

• Rinse the beans and cover with hot water.
• Heat over high to boiling, then remove from heat.  
• Drain the beans and rinse.  Return to the pot.
• Add hot water, covering the beans by four inches or more above the bean line.  
• Again bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer, covered.  
• Please monitor the cooking beans often, be generous with testing starting at the hour mark.  Simmer for 90 minutes, add salt - about 1 1/2 tablespoons, more depending on how much water you used.  Ideally the salt is added in the last half hour of cooking time. 

Note ----  I pulled these off the heat before they were completely soft throughout - I left them still firm in the very middle middle.  They will get more cooking time with the soup process.

The next day ~ the soup ~


Two carrots, small chop
Two celery stalks, sliced
One onion, diced
Olive oil
Two bay leaves
Salt
Smokey seasoning blend
6 c. chicken stock
Shredded pork roast
Cooked adzuki beans
1-2 tsp. puree of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
Corn, fresh cut from the cob, one cob

• Heat a stock pot over medium heat.  When hot, add oil.
• Add the veggies, season with salt and seasoning blend.  Sauted until there is some brown on the onions.
• Add the chicken stock, the pork, the beans, and bay leaves.
• Let simmer for 30-45 minutes. 
• Adjust seasoning to your liking, adding a bit more salt if necessary.  Salt should never "sit" on the top of a finished soup, only for final small adjustments.
• Add the fresh corn, then serve - or freeze some.  I did.  :)