Best Black Bean Soup Revisited

Best Black Bean Soup

This American classic can be a perfect dish: big-tasting, filling, nutritious, easy and very possibly vegetarian. With their rich natural broth, turtle beans do not need bacon, ham or any meat ingredient to make a satisfying soup. Black bean soup recipes have a tendency to turn out sludgy or bland, but the trick here is to season generously, and purée sparingly. The beans should be swimming in liquid, not sitting in sludge: The more beans are puréed, the more starch is released into the soup. For flavor, this recipe deploys marinated chipotle chiles, but a tablespoon each of ground cumin and ground coriander make a good heat-free substitute. (A note: Since there is acid from the wine here, if your tap water is hard there might be a chemical reaction preventing the beans from softening).  If so add the wine later with the stock.

Ingredients:

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

1 pound dried black beans (not soaked)

1 yellow onion, peeled, trimmed and quartered

5 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

1 chipotle chile in adobo plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 dried bay leaves and/or 1 teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon baking soda (optional)

Kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Any combination of Greek yogurt, corn chips, pickles red onion, cilantro, lime wedges, poached egg for topping.

Directions:  

In a 5 to 8 quart slow cooker, combine beans, onion, garlic, chipotle chili and adobe sauce, cumin, bay leaves and or oregano, and baking soda.  

Cook on low until beans are tender, 8 to 10 hours.   Taste more than one bean to make sure they and tender.  The bean should flatten easily when pinched between two fingers.

Remove and compost the bay leaves. Transfer the onion, garlic and chipotle chile to a blender or food processor, along with about 2 cups of the beans and broth. (You can purée more or less of the soup, depending on desired consistency.)  Blend until smooth.  Pour puréed soup back into the slow cooker, stir in the vinegar, then season to taste with salt. Eat with desired toppings.

TIP

Beans should reach a simmer and cook until tender to be safe to eat. If your slow cooker does not reach a simmer on the low setting, increase the heat level to high, and ensure the beans cook at a simmer for at least 15 minutes at come point in the preparation.   NY Times recipe.