I know I am :) This is one of J's favorites - White Bean Soup with Bacon and Fennel
4 strips bacon, chopped
1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs (discard tops down to the white, core, halve, and thinly slice)
1 large white onion (halved and thinly sliced)
2 or 3 cloves garlic (crushed, minced, however you prefer the flavor)
1 T white wine vinegar
3 cans Cannellini beans (or if you are more patient than I, you'll soak and cook your own from dry beans)
1 large container chicken broth (like one of those tall paper ones)
1-2 cups water
4-inch sprig fresh rosemary, or 2 tsp. dried (* if you are not a rosemary fan, it is good with sage instead)
Salt and pepper to taste
In your soup pot, saute the bacon pieces until they begin to brown, and add the sliced fennel and onion. If the sauteeing needs a dab of olive oil, go ahead with that. Once they begin to soften, add the garlic and saute a minute longer. Deglaze with the vinegar. Add the remaining ingredients (I generally find it's good to mash one can's worth of the beans with a fork or potato masher, to slightly thicken the soup) and simmer at least 40 minutes. Remove that rosemary sprig.
This is my variation. The original recipe called for porcini mushrooms (soak 3 or 4 dry mushrooms in 1 1/2 cups superhot water for 20 minutes, squeeze them out and mince them, strain the broth through a cloth into the soup), AND it adds cheese tortellini at the end, which makes it superlarge (I have done it, it feeds minions), but I like it this way (and it's simpler).
This is really great with some good ciabatta-type bread, sliced up, lightly brushed with olive oil, and quickly browned on a hot griddle or cast iron skillet. As a fancier plate, believe it or not this soup is good as a kind of ragout under a seared piece of tuna.
