Name: Black Bean Soup
Yield: Makes 8 Servings
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon salt; 2 garlic cloves, chopped; 4 jalapeño chilies, seeded and finely chopped (optional but recommended); ½ pound bacon, preferably slab; 1 large onion, chopped; salt and pepper; 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (optional); 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro leaves; 1 cup dry sherry; 2 sour cream; Tabasco sauce; 2 cups dried black turtle beans, soaked; 1 quart chicken or beef broth or water; 1 bouquet garni; 1 ham bone or 2 ham hocks

Preparation info

Makes
8
Servings

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Splendid Soups

By James Peterson

Published 2000

About

Like most beans, black beans are best when cooked with something smoked. This recipe uses both bacon and a ham bone or ham hocks, as well as sherry, to give it a rich, smoky flavor.

Give yourself a lot of time to cook this soup; black beans take longer to cook than most—at least 2 hours and sometimes as long as 4.

Some people like black bean soup to be almost solid, with the consistency of chili, while others like a thinner, more souplike puree. This depends on how much brot