Black Bean Soup

So this blog is to give you a little insight on how my mind works when it comes to food.  God help you all!  I have read a lot of articles in Cooking Light and Runners World where beans are a necessary part of a healthy diet.  A few blogs ago I did a Ham and Bean Soup which turned out great with some amazing flavor.  For a different twist on another bean soup I wanted to try a southwestern twist.  The Good Food Store has such a great selection of dried beans and lentils and we have found a great turtle black bean to use.  I had some of those beans in our pantry so I just needed to think what else would go well with that.  Onions and celery are staples for most soups so of course I would need them.  To give it that southwestern twist I wanted to add some jalapeno and garlic.  We had just purchases some frozen organic white corn at Costco so I thought that would add some nice flavor.  Now what else could I add to give it some extra flavor, pork would be good but I really didn't want to invest any time in cooking up a roast or cut up a loin chop.  My answer, of course, is BACON! 

Okay, so I think I have the basic ingredients together.  Now what else can I add to make this amazing, I know I'll cook this in some chicken broth.  I wish I had some homemade chicken stock to throw in this but I haven't made any in awhile and therefore the freezer is empty of stock.  A future blog will be in order for stock making.  In addition to that stock I know I have some organic better than bouillon in the fridge for back up.  Finally, when it comes to putting all together at the end I wanted to add some fresh flavors to really give that soup the final touch.  Sour cream always goes well with bean soup (think chili) and then I have an avocado ripening on the counter and that would not only taste great with this soup but look good too.  So with all of that in mind, here is the ingredient list.

• 12 oz of dried black beans
• Half of an onion
• Couple of stalks of celery
• Jalapeno
• Garlic Clove
• 4 or 5 slices of bacon
• Quart of Organic Chicken Broth or Stock
• Cumin
• Mexican Oregano
• Salt and Pepper
• Water
• Organic Better than Bouillon Chicken Base
• 1/2 to 1 cup of organic frozen corn
• Sour Cream
• Avocado

I started out the night before by rinsing the beans and letting them soak overnight.  If possible, change the water at least once during the soaking period.  Next chop slice the bacon into 1 inch pieces.  Place into a frying pan at medium heat.  Chop up the onion and celery and throw into the pan with the onions.  Next cut up the jalapeno.  The best way I find to do this is to cut off the top of the pepper and then slice it in half lengthwise.  Seed the jalapeno.  If you want a pit more heat leave the seeds in.  Next, thinly slice the jalapeno and then chop into very small pieces.  Add to the frying pan.  If you have never used fresh jalapenos before, take care to wash your hands thoroughly afterwards and don't touch your lips or eyes until you have.  The seeds and inner membrane are where the heat in a jalapeno is stored.  I actually keep some disposable latex gloves on hand to throw on if I am cutting a lot them up.  Now let all of the vegetables cook in the bacon fat.  It will give everything such great flavor.  Once the vegetables are tender, either set it aside or place into the crock pot for use in the morning.  Take some of the chicken stock or broth and put a little in the pan that you just used for sauteing the vegetables.  Swish the stock around to loosen the flavorful bits of food stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Dump this liquid into the crock pot and pour the rest of the stock or broth into the crock pot as well.  Store all of this in the refrigerator until morning.

The next morning drain the black beans and put into the crock pot with the bacon, vegetables and chicken stock.  Now add roughly a quart of water with some salt and pepper, about a teaspoon of mexican oregano and 1/2 teaspoon of cumin.  Also put in about a tablespoon of the organic better than bouillon mixture.  Turn the crock pot on low and cook for about 8 hours.  

So now comes the time to confess that this recipe didn't turn out as well as I hoped.  When I got home the soup ended up being more watery than I wanted.  I originally put in a lot of water because sometimes the crock pot lets a lot of water evaporate plus beans can soak up a lot of water when cooking.  However, this didn't happen with this soup.  Now I had to try and find a way to get rid of some of the liquid or thicken up the soup.  My first thought was to puree some of the beans and see if that helped thicken the soup.  I placed about 3 ladles of the beans with some of the liquid in the blender.  I left the middle part of the lid off and placed a clean towel over the top.  This is very important when blending a hot liquid, if you leave the lid on too tight then it will explode and make a very big mess.  Trust me, I have had a huge mess to clean up after making that mistake.  Okay, back to the soup, after pouring the puree back into the soup, it was still too watery for my liking.  I transferred the soup, puree and all, into a large saucepan.  Next I brought the mixture to a boil and continue to boil for about 20 minutes until enough liquid had evaporated to make a nice thick soup.  Be sure to stir the soup occasionally during this process so that the beans don't stick to the bottom of the pan.  I must say, I was impressed this worked.  At this point I added the frozen corn to the soup and cooked over low heat for about another 5 minutes stirring occasionally. 

To serve the soup, I ladled some of the soup into a bowl.  I topped it with about a tablespoon of sour cream and a few slices of avocado on top of it.  Some chopped cilantro and or a few squeezes of lime would also go great with this. I completed this meal with some homemade corn bread and sliced red pears.  It balanced the soup out nicely.  The flavor was just fantastic, not too spicy, not too salty, just a nice balance of flavor.

This soup turned out really great and I hope you take some time to make it or something similar.  Let me know if you have any questions and thanks again for reading.