BLACKBEAN-SOUP - Soup with black beans and ham hocks Here is a hearty soup for those cold winter evenings. This is a rather messy soup to make, but well worth the effort.
250 g black beans 100-150 g smoked boneless ham hocks 2 l water salt, to taste 500 ml beef or chicken broth (I prefer beef) 20 ml olive oil 250 g green bell peppers, finely chopped, seeded, and cored 300 g onions, finely chopped 10 g garlic, finely minced 5 ml ground cumin 250 g tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced. 60 ml red wine vinegar 30 ml coriander, finely chopped [optional] dry sherry wine, to taste
(1) Put the beans, ham hocks, water and salt in a ket- tle, and bring to a boil. Cover and let simmer 2 to 21/2 hours, or until beans are thoroughly tender. (2) Remove the ham hocks and set aside. (3) Drain the beans, and reserve both them and the cooking liquid. There should be about 1.5 liters of beans and 1 liter of liquid. Add enough broth to the liquid to make 1.5 liters. (4) Put the beans in the container of a food processor or blender, and blend as thoroughly as possible. Add a little of the liquid and continue blending. Combine the pureed beans and remaining liquid in a large bowel. (5) Heat the oil in a heavy kettle, and add the peppers, onions, garlic and cumin. Cook, stir- ring, until the onions are wilted. Add the toma- toes and the vinegar. Let simmer about 15 minutes. (6) Meanwhile cut up ham hocks. (7) Add the pureed bean mixture to the cooked tomato mixture. Add the chopped ham and coriander. (8) Serve in hot soup bowls with 20 ml or so of sherry (if desired) in each serving.
I skip the sherry and add a spoon of sour cream or yogurt. If your palate can handle them, try adding pickled jalapeno peppers.
Difficulty: easy. Time: 10 minutes preparation, 3 hours cooking. Precision: no need to measure.
Gary Scott Tektronix, Beaverton OR garys@tekcbi.UUCP
Last modified: 9 May 2006 | 12 hits in May 2007 |