From brawny@mindspring.com Mon Jul 28 14:37:42 1997 Date: 23 Jul 1997 21:12:49 -0600 From: Bill Newsgroups: rec.food.recipes Subject: Black Bean Soup Followup-To: rec.food.cooking MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05 Title: Black Bean Soup Categories: Soups Yield: 8 servings 2 c Dried black beans 1 md Onion; finely diced 3 tb Butter or oil 1 sm Carrot - peeled and finely diced 1 Celery stalk; finely diced 6 c Chicken broth 1 Ham hock 1 ts Thyme 1/4 c Lemon juice 1/4 c Dry sherry Sour cream Chopped fresh dill THE NIGHT BEFORE, place beans in a bowl, cover with 3 inches of water and soak at least 8 hours or up to 10. Or, for a quick-cook method, place beans in hot water for 1 hour before continuing with the recipe. Combine onion and oil in a 2-quart pot over medium heat on top of the stove and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the carrot and celery and cook another 5 minutes. Add the drained beans, stock, ham hock, thyme. Cover, increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Decrease heat to low and cook, covered, for 1 1/2 hours. Place beans and liquid in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Pour the puree back into the pot and add lemon juice and sherry. Place a dollop of sour cream in each soup bowl and sprinkle with some chopped fresh dill. Pour the piping hot soup at the table. MMMMM MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05 Title: Cuban Black Bean Soup Categories: Soups, Main dish, Low-cal Yield: 4 Servings 1 lb Beans, dried black 1 c Onion, chopped 1 tb Butter 4 c Water 1 Beef Bullion Cube 12 oz Ham, cooked lean 2 Bay leaves 1/2 ts Thyme, dried leaf 1/2 ts Oregano, dried leaf 1/2 ts Salt 1 Pepper, dried whole red 1 c Pepper, green bell; chopped 1/3 c Dark rum (optional) 1 c Sour cream (optional) Sort and soak beans overnight; drain and discard soak water. In a 4-quart pot, saute onion in butter or margarine until tender but not browned. Add soaked beans, 4 cups water, bouillon cube, ham (cut into 4-6 chunks), bay leaves, thyme, oregano, salt & red pepper. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until beans are tender, 1 to 1-1/2 hour. Remove 1 cup beans from stew, mash in a bowl with potato masher or fork. Add mashed beans to stew; stir to thicken. Remove ham and dice. Remove bay leaves and red pepper, if used and discard. Add diced meat, green pepper and rum (if desired) to beans. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Serve beans over rice and top with sour cream if desired. MMMMM Join us at Myrtlewood Farms!! http://www.mindspring.com/~bjbear/brawny.html Knoxville, TN USA ~~~ Rec.food.recipes is moderated; only recipes and recipe requests are accepted for posting. Please read the "Posting Guidelines" article. Recipes/requests go to recipes@rt66.com; questions/comments to tfdpress@acpub.duke.edu. Please allow several days for your submission to appear.