Las Brisas Black Bean

The Swedish Meatballs were a big hit at work last Wednesday. The whole 5 quarts were gone in less than 5 minutes!. Lots of great feedback from folks too. They're really very tasty, give the recipe a try and let me know what you think.

I'm working on a really good Black Bean Soup for a special reason. A colleague at work asked about the Black Bean Soup I had brought in a few months ago. He was wondering if I was planning on bringing it in next week, not because he liked it because he actually doesn't, but because his wife loved it. He took some home to her and she is still talking about it. It turns out that she's going through a very rough time and not feeling well and he thought that some of that soup would pick her up a bit. Well, I can't think of a better reason to break out the pots and knives.

I found this recipe through the LA Times Food Section. The Times has a running series that responds to readers' requests to provide recipes for dishes from restaurants from all over the LA area. The Black Bean Soup is from Las Brisas in Laguna Beach. If you ever get a chance to visit Laguna Beach be sure you take advantage of it. It is a beautiful place. We spent a lot of time theregrowing up. I've never been to Las Brisas but I'll make a point when we're in Orange County again.

This is a simple soup to make with the ingredient prep time being pretty minimal. It does take a couple of hours for the beans to cook so be sure you plan for that. There are no exotic ingredients either so shopping is pretty easy also. You should be able to get about 12-16 servings depending on serving size. There's lots of protein and fiber in this soup along with being very tasty.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds of dried black beans, picked over and rinsed (I've yet to find anything but beans but picking through the beans is relaxing)
• 4 quarts of water (you might use more depending on how thick you want thesoup when you're done)
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 4 ounces of salt pork, rind discarded and cut into 1/4 inch pieces (most salt pork comes in 8 or 12 ounce packages so I end up using the whole thing. I don't use salt pork in many other dishes so it would just go to waste)
• 1 3/4 pounds of ham hocks, about 3 pieces
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (I've mentioned before that I use Spice World prepared garlic found in the produce section)
• 2 teaspoons white pepper, more to taste (a little goes a long way with white pepper so be careful)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons of salt, more to taste
• For Garnish:
• 1/4 cup of minced cilantro
• 2 fresh serrano chiles, seeded and minced (wear rubber gloves when working with chiles because your skin will burn and heaven help you if you touch your eyes or nose while working with chiles)
• 4 slices of bacon cooked crisp an crumbled
• 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese (I always use the Romano-Parmesan mix from Trader Joe's, it's great, I can eat it by the spoonful)
• 1/4 minced Bermuda onion

METHOD

1. In a soup pot that's at least 6 quarts but preferably eight, combine the beans, water, onion, carrots, celery, salt pork an ham hocks. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook, covered for 15 minutes.
2. Stir in the garlic, white pepper, cumin, oregano and salt. Continue to simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally until the beans are very tender and the soup is reduced to about 4 quarts after the ham hocks are removed. This should take about 1 1/2- 2 hours.
3. Discard the ham hocks and puree the soup. If you've taken my recommendation andasked Santa for an immersion blender than this is where you'll fall in love with it if you haven't already.
4. Adjust the consistency with additional water if needed. Season with additional salt and white pepper as needed.
5. Serve with all the garnishes.