Turtle Bean Soup

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