Remember that dinner party during which I served the Cheese-Stuffed Anaheim Peppers as a main course? Well, our starter was a Black Bean Creamy Soup. Needless to say that getting my hands on raw black beans around here can be considered a monumental task, however, I found a co-national at the beginning of the Fall who courteously shared with me her secret to finding these delicacies which are a staple food for any and every Mexican.
Hence, I ran towards the organic store on Avenue de Grenelle and bought what seemed to be the last 1lb. bag of black beans they had, arrived home and decided to prepare that soup I love but for which I had no recipe. I share with you what I did. I know it will become a pampering dish every time we get the chance to prepare it.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 500 g (1 lb) black beans
- 2 l (8 cups) fresh water, approximately
- 1 (1) onion, finely chopped
- 2 (2) garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 5 g (1 tsp) tomato paste
- Epazote
- Avocado leaf
- 1-2 (1-2) chipotle chilis
- Salt, to season
- 30 g (2 tbsp) crème fraîche
- 1 (1) avocado, para decorar
- 10 g (1 tbsp) cooking oil, colza, peanut, grapeseed, etc.
To Prepare
- I washed and soaked the beans overnight. The next morning I cooked them with enough water for around one hour. It is really important to not add salt. Beans should be seasoned after they are cooked. Grandma used to say that if you add salt before they are cooked all they way through, they won't go tender. Now, if you decide to cook the beans in a pressure cooker -this is the way I usually go, it will take about 45 minutes after the cooker pressurizes. If you'd rather cook them in an ordinary pot, it's fine, just make sure you cook them all the way through until the legume is tender.
- In a second pot, put oil and sweat the onion and garlic. Both should be finely chopped. You should then add the beans and it is now when I season my beans. Take a good pinch of salt and a few epazote leaves together. This leaf will aromatize the beans, so there's no need to chop it, just break it little. Once the broth started to reduce, I added the tomato paste, however if you want to add fresh crushed tomato in season and avoid canned products, you may. Together, I added as well a couple avocado leaves as well as some chipotle. I added the chipotle in a dehydrated and pulverized form, because it was the way I had them at hand, but canned chipotle will work fine as well. I let it simmer for a little while until I decided it was flavorful and well integrated. Then I took it off the heat and processed everything with the immersion blender in the same pot after having added the crème fraîche. Be careful when you do this last step, since the contents of the pot as well as the pot are both hot.
- To decorate the plates when serving you may add fried tortilla julienne, avocado chunks and/or a few drops of the crème fraîche. There are some people who will even add a little queso fresco, but I had none at hand. The rest is just to enjoy a little piece of heaven. Bon appétit !
