More liquid love…black bean soup

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but it’s been pretty damn cold here in Wisconsin. Top it off with a day of moderate snowfall and you’ve got an extreme Monday…it seemed to go on forever. Since I was out and about this afternoon I stopped by La Mestiza, a great little Mexican joint, and picked up some pork tamales to have for dinner. I’ve never tried to make tamales…they seem related to the dumpling family, don’t they? What with being a flavorful meat surrounded by masa and then wrapped in a corn husk…. I’m wary of dumplings, as you may remember, so I think I’ll continue to let the trained professionals fulfill this need.

But remember, it’s cold here…today our high was 9…that’s it, 9. Right now it’s 8, feels like 1. Woohoo folks this is warmer than yesterday!!! Yes, I’m aware how sad that is. But I digress…last week I posted that scrumptious buttermilk soup…and it was sooooo good, especially with those little pillowy oyster crackers and lots of black pepper. It was more like a tangy vegetable chowder and I loved it. But we were all talking about soup and I think it was dear reader JEP who mentioned black bean soup. Well, that was it…I couldn’t get black bean soup out of my mind.

So I came home today and before I did anything else, before I got out of my work clothes and into my blue jeans, before I booted up lappy or checked to see if my new camera had arrived, before laundry, even before I warmed up my poor, cold feet…I made black bean soup. Prep time is maybe 5-10 minutes, and then it cooks, and bubbles, and simmers for a couple of hours…then 2/3 of it gets pureed in the blender with 4 cloves of garlic, it gets one last seasoning dose, and it’s soup time baby!!! I can’t tell you how thrilled I was when the boys didn’t like it…more for me!!! Notice the dollop of yogurt gracing the soup…I love how that creamy coolness sidles into a bite of the spicy hot soup…it’s superb and a satisfying accompaniment to a porky tamale…a great dinner, no muss, no fuss, and I even had time to make Bakers Chocolate One-bowl Brownies…my favorite. Lucky you…you get the recipe.

Black Bean Soup
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1 large onion, peeled and diced
2 to 3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon smoked Spanish paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt
1 pound bag of black beans, rinsed and picked over
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
cheats: 1 tablespoon chicken boullion, generous dash of Maggi Seasoning, lime juice

Put a heavy pot on a medium flame, toss the onions in with some olive oil and saute them for 3 minutes or so. Add some salt, the chili powder, paprika, and the cumin. Stir it about and let it heat up for a few minutes. Add the beans and add enough water to cover the beans. Put a lid on the pot and let it come to a boil.

Turn the flame down until you have a medium simmer. Cook like this, with the lid on the pot, for 1 to 1 and 1/2 hours. Occasionally stir it. After the time elapses taste the beans for seasoning and to see if the beans are tender. If they’re not turn the heat back up to a boil and cook them for 10 minutes or so like that. Make sure you have enough liquid with the beans.

Once they are tender transfer 2/3 of the beans to a blender and puree them with 4 whole cloves of garlic. Pour this puree back into the pot, taste for seasoning and add some of the cheats if necessary to boost the flavor.

Serve with a dollop of yogurt.

21 January 2008 | food, quick and easy, recipe, soup, salad, sandwich, spicy, vegetable | Comments