Nice Black Bean Soup Recipe

As a few of you may understand, California has actually been hit with some stormy weather recently. We warm-weather low-landers don't do cold and damp too well and for the last several days of rainy and cold I've been food craving some hot, hearty, black bean soup.

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I love black bean soup thick, nearly stew-like; if you like yours thinner, feel free to include water or more chicken stock to this recipe. Soup like this is mostly an improvisation. The foundation active ingredients are the black beans, the smoked ham hock, the onions, and the spices. However even the ham hock you might replace with some great bacon.

Black Bean Soup Recipe

Preparation time: 20 minutes  Cook time: 1 hour, 45 minutes   Yield: Makes 8 cups. Serves 6.
Preparation the onion, sweet potato, carrot, celery, garlic, and red bell pepper while the beans are cooking in step 1.

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried black beans (about 2 cups), rinsed, soaked in 4 quarts of water overnight or 6 hours, drained pipes
• 1 pound smoked ham hock or shank
• 2 bay leaves
• 5 cups water
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 big yellow onion, chopped fine (2 cups).
• 1 medium sweet potato, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces (2 cups, chopped) (can replace 2 huge carrots).
• 1 carrot, chopped fine (1/2 cup).
• 1 celery rib, chopped fine (1/2 cup).
• 1 teaspoon salt.
• 4 medium garlic cloves, minced.
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin.
• 2 teaspoons chile powder.
• 2 cups chicken stock (include 2 teaspoons of salt if utilizing unsalted stock).
• 1 Tbsp molasses.
• 1 red bell pepper, roughly sliced.
• 3 to 4 Tbsp lime juice (can substitute lemon juice).
• Salt.
• Chopped fresh cilantro.
• Sour cream.
• Avocado, peeled and chopped.

Method

Place beans and ham hock in a 4-quart, thick-bottomed pot. Add 5 cups water, bay leaves, salt and baking soda. Give a boil, reduce heat to a low simmer. Cover and let cook 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, until beans hurt. Remove bay leaves. Eliminate ham hock from the pot. Cut ham meat away from the bone and cut into little, bite-sized pieces, reserved.

While the beans are cooking, heat olive oil in a large 8-quart thick-bottomed pot on medium high until the oil is hot, but not smoking cigarettes. Include the onions, celery, carrot, sweet potato and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, till lightly browned and softened, about 10-15 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, include the cumin, chili powder, and garlic, cook for an extra 2 minutes, stirring continuously.

Once the beans are tender, add the beans, their cooking liquid, chicken stock, molasses, and bell pepper. Give a boil then minimize heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring periodically, for 20 to 30 minutes.

Remove 4 cups of the soup (about half of it) to a blender. Purée until smooth and return to the pot of soup. (You may need to purée the soup in smaller sized portions, depending on the size of your blender. Do not fill the blender over half way at a time and hold the cover while mixing.) Or utilize an immersion mixer to purée simply half of the soup.

Include back the ham pieces to the soup. Add 3 Tbsp of lime juice. Change flavorings. If on the sweet side, add a bit more lime juice. Salt to taste.
Serve with garnishes.

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