Cuban Black Bean Soup From Happy Herbivore Abroad Recipe 445

Steps:

• Line a skillet with a thin layer of water (or vegetable broth). Sauté onion over high heat until translucent- about 2-3 minutes. Add chili powder and cumin, and stir to combine. Then add beans, vegetable broth, and salsa. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice. Transfer half of the mixture to a blender and puree until mostly smooth. Mix puree back in with soup. Garnish with cilantro, green onions, and broken corn chips. You can also drizzle with hot sauce or add cayenne pepper to taste, if desired. Chef's Note:You can make your own corn chips from tortillas. Crisp tortillas in a toaster oven or oven (350ºF) for a few minutes until crisp, then crumble into chips.

Steps:

• Remove any debris from the beans, then rinse and soak them overnight in cold water, refrigerated. Drain any remaining water after the soaking, before adding the beans to the soup pot.
• In a large soup pot with a heavy bottom, heat the olive oil. Add the ham hock to the oil and begin to brown. Add the onions, peppers, celery, chili, and cumin, and cook over medium heat until the vegetables wilt. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook an additional 2 minutes, stirring to make sure you don't burn the tomato or garlic. Add the water and bring to a boil.
• Add the cleaned and soaked black beans, return to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until the beans are tender. Remove the ham hock from the pot, let cool enough to handle, then strip the meat from the bone. Chop the meat coarsely and add back to the soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the sherry and cook 2 minutes more. Ladle into bowls and garnish each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream and a sprinkling of scallions or chives.

Steps:

• In a large stockpot, cover the beans with water, covering them by 2 inches. Add bay leaf, cumin, oregano, and Italian pepper. Simmer until the beans are tender, about 45 minutes.
• After 45 minutes, remove the pepper.
• In a saute pan, saute onions, red, and green peppers until translucent. Puree in a blender, this is the sofrito.
• In the same pan, saute the garlic. Add to the beans, along with the sofrito, 1/4-cup olive oil, sugar, and vinegar. Season with salt and continue to cook until very thick, about 45 minutes. Garnish with finely chopped red onion.

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven coated with cooking spray, saute the celery, onion, garlic and jalapeno in oil until onion is tender. Stir in the beans, broth, water, seasonings and hot pepper sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Cool slightly., In a blender, process soup in batches until smooth. Return to the pan; heat through. Garnish each serving with tomatoes, sour cream and cilantro.

Steps:

• Place beans in a heavy pot. Add enough cold water to cover beans by 2". Bring to a boil; remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes. Drain beans; return to same pot. Add 8 cups cold water. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium, ans simmer until beans are tender, adding more water by cupfuls as needed to cover beans, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Drain beans.
• Heat same pot over medium heat. Add chorizo and bacon and cook until chorizo is brown and bacon is crisp, stirring frequently and breaking up chorizo with back of spoon, about 10 minutes. Add onion and next 4 ingredients. Cook until onion is translucent, stirring frequently about 5 minutes. Add 4 cups broth, tomatoes with juice, and beans. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer 20 minutes for flavors to blend. Cool slightly.
• Working batches, coarsely puree soup in processor using on/off turns. Return puree to pot, adding more broth as needed for desired consistency. Can be made ahead to this point. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled.
• Bring soup to boil. Add sherry; reduce heat to medium and simmer 3 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup chopped cilantro. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Place large spoonful salsa in each of 6 large bowls. Ladle soup over salsa. Serve, passing additional salsa, chopped cilantro, sour cream, guacamole, and chili powder alongside.