VAL'S SLOWCOOKER WINTER PINTO BEAN SOUP; Coalinga-CA

YUM!

It has been cold here, in CA 😱

And it is shocking to me, because the hype talk since I moved West with my parents in the summer of 1965, was "it's always like summertime in sunny california!" But, I am finding out what my husband (who was born in Santa Cruz- CA and spent a good portion of his life living in and working in california) has always known: it gets downright cold 😳 in california valleys, in the winter months!

35-degree early morning hours, with a thick dense fog that holds a solid barrier between the sun's normal hot sunrays and california's valley tera firma … makes for cold atmosphere: cold days call for a good hearty, warming, soup; coupled with garlic bread 🥣🥖👌

While I was drinking my morning coffee with cupped hands & a space heater aimed in my direction, thinking this weather here reminds me of WA winters (sans the nonstop rain, freeze, or snowfall there) - I decided to pull a tasty soup together 😉 I had fat & sassy ham hocks in the freezer, a bag of pinto beans in the pantry, veggies in the 'fridge, & spices in the cupboard: drawing on memory of pinto soups in the past, I gathered together everything that came to mind; and got busy 👨‍🍳

This soup is very tasty.

This soup is satisfactorily filling.

Val's Slowcooker Winter Pinto Bean Soup ~serves 8

1-lb. bag of Pinto Beans, rinsed * 2 Ham Hocks, smoked * 1 large Yellow Onion, quartered & sliced * 6 Garlic cloves, peeled & sliced cross-grain * 2 c. Turkey stock (or chicken) * 4-5 small, skinny Carrots, sliced into thin coins * 3 skinny stalks Celery w-leaves (inner stalks), sliced thin * 2 c. Water * 1/4 c. bottled BBQ Sauce * 1-1/2 TBSP. Brown Sugar * 1 tsp. Baking Soda * 1 tsp. Paprika, smoked * 1 small Bay Leaf * 1/2 tsp. Black Pepper, ground * canned Pineapple chunks, drained * 1 Lrg. Crockpot (8-10 qt., oval) * 1 Lrg. Cooking Spoon, slotted * 1 whisk * 1 Lrg. Pyrex Glass Measuring Cup

1) Combine beans, hocks, vegetables, & turkey stock in the slowcooker crock - with bean and hocks at the bottom; then in the large Pyrex measuring cup, gently whisk water, BBQ sauce, sugar, baking soda, & spices together - add to bean mixture.

Pinto beans.

Frozen Thanksgiving Turkey Stock.

Garlic, onion, carrot, celery, ham hocks, pineapple, BBQ Sauce.

Garlic sliced cross-grain.

2) Set slowcooker temperature to HIGH until the crockpot blend boils (about 1-1/2 hrs) … then reduce heat to LOW and cook for 3-1/2 or 4-1/2 more hours: remove ham hocks from soup, & with fork tines removes meat from bones in chunky bits - discard bones & return meat to soup mixture. Add pineapple chunks, and continue cooking another hour - or until beans & veggies are cooked to desired tenderness.

3) Serve up & enjoy 😁

My husband says this soup is a definite repeat 😘