White Bean Soup

I suppose the excitement of the new year is starting to fade, I'm back to work and so is the trusty crock pot.

Even Thomas Keller thinks the crock pot is the perfect place to cook beans, so who am I to argue? I made a mix up of a few recipes and tossed together this simple soup. Into the slow cooker I loaded one pound of dry white beans, 3 large cloves of chopped garlic, sliced dry chorizo, one sliced onion, one sliced leek, lardons of smoked slab bacon, S&P and about 7 cups of chicken broth. That mixture cooked on low for about 4 hours and then James added in one bunch of chopped kale and left the soup to simmer in the crock pot for about 4 hours more.

Just before serving I drizzled on a whisper of red wine vinegar and topped the bowl with a few cheese croutons.

Dinnertime winner.