Bean Chowder

Recipe No. 542 from the U.S. Army’s WWII cookbook — Soups. Quantities are exactly as printed, for 100 servings; a scaled-down 8-serving version is in the notes.

Ingredients

• Beans, navy, dry — 7 pounds (4½ No. 56 dippers)
• Water — 4¼ gallons (17 No. 56 dippers)
• Pork, salt, diced — 3 pounds (2 No. 56 dippers)
• Potatoes, diced — 4 pounds (2½ No. 56 dippers)
• Onions, chopped — 12 ounces (¾ No. 56 dipper)
• Tomatoes — 2 No. 10 cans
• Sugar, granulated — 3 ounces (6 mess kit spoons)
• Molasses — 5 ounces (7 mess kit spoons)
• Salt — 1 ounce (2 mess kit spoons)
• Pepper — (⅓ mess kit spoon)

Directions

Key ingredients

Molasses

1. Wash beans. Add enough water to cover beans; soak 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
2. Add remaining water and ½ the salt pork. Cover and heat to boiling point; reduce heat and simmer about 2 hours or until skins of beans begin to burst.
3. Add potatoes and continue simmering.
4. Fry remaining salt pork until crisp; remove from fat and drain.
5. Fry onions in pork fat until tender. Add tomatoes, sugar, molasses, salt and pepper; mix well.
6. Cover and heat to boiling point; reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes.
7. Add crisp pork cubes just before serving.

Notes

SCALED TO 8 SERVINGS (the original is ÷12.5): Beans, navy, dry — 9 oz Water — 1⅓ qt Pork, salt, diced — 3¾ oz Potatoes, diced — 5 oz Onions, chopped — 1 oz Tomatoes — 2 cups Sugar, granulated — about 1½ tsp Molasses — ⅓ oz Salt — about ½ tsp Pepper — scale to taste ((⅓ mess kit spoon))

— TM 10-412, Army Recipes (War Department, 15 August 1944), recipe No. 542, Soups. Army measures: 1 No. 56 dipper = 1 qt; 1 No. 55 dipper = 1¾ qt; 1 mess kit cup = 1½ pints.