Name: Turtle Bean Soup
Yield: Makes 8 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 celery ribs, chopped; ¼ cup peanut oil; 2 medium onions, chopped; 3 cups dried turtle beans (black beans); 8 cups water; Thin pitted lemon slices for garnish; 2 hard-boiled large eggs, chopped; 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice; ½ cup Madeira; 1 smoked ham bone, trimmed of excess fat; 1 garlic clove, minced; 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour; Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste; 2 bay leaves

Preparation info

Makes
8
servings

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Glory of Southern Cooking

By James Villas

Published 2007

About

Known also as turtle beans, black beans have been used in the Deep South to make this inimitable soup since at least the early nineteenth century, and even today, turtle bean soup is deemed to be one of the most elegant ways to begin an elaborate dinner. Ironically, the greatest version I ever tasted was prepared by the Greek owner of The Coach House in New York City, who obtained the recipe in Atlanta when he originally operated a restaurant there called The Coach & Six. The soup can b