5/4

In Bakersfield, most Basque restaurants serve what they call a setup with their meals which includes beans, soup, salad, and salsa.  The beans are eaten with the salsa.  The salad is usually a simple vinaigrette.  I made my own set up, but the salsa came out tasting like ketchup, so I will not even give you the recipe for that one.

Benji's Beans from Recipes from Basque Restaurants of the American West
serves 14 to 16

4 cups pink or pinto beans
8 to 10 cups water
5 oz. salt pork cut into 1/4 inch pieces (I used dried chorizo and it worked just as well)
2 onions, chopped fine
2 T.  olive oil
2 T. tomato paste
1 pinch thyme leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Sort beans and rinse them.  Place them in a large pot.  Add water allowing one inch for expansion.  (Keep a pot of water boiling gently so that you can add it to the beans should they start to become dry).  Bring to a boil and then simmer beans for about 35 minutes. 

Cook salt pork in oil over medium heat.  Stir until the hot bits release a little fat. Stir in onions.   Keep stirring mixture until it is a golden brown (careful not to burn).  When the beans are almost done, add the salt pork mixture.  Stir well and then add tomato paste, thyme, salt and pepper.  Cook together until beans are done.  The total cooking time is about one hour.

Woolgrowers Vegetable Soup

1 quart chicken broth
1 T. tomato paste
1 t. smoked paprika*
1/4 head cabbage
2 potatoes cut into 1/3 inch pieces
1 large carrot cut into 1/3 inch pieces
2 large leeks, carefully cleaned and thinly sliced

Heat up broth, paprika and tomato paste.  Cook ingredients for about 30 minutes and salt to taste.
*smoked paprika flavors a dish the same way as chorizo.