Cuban Black Bean Soup
Posted by tinako on December 1, 2009
Cuban Black Bean Soup and Herb Bread
This is the second time I’ve made Cuban Black Bean Soup, and this recipe might be the best soup I’ve ever had. If I got this in a restaurant, I would be impressed. I like that it does not taste like the typical Tex-Mex black beans. For not too many different herbs and spices, it’s very complex. I put the rum right in the soup this time, and frozen cilantro. I also cooked the beans myself with a bay leaf, and put a couple extra cups of beans in the freezer for later.
I went to search for the post where I told you about freezing herbs, and I guess I never did. I saw an episode of Totally Vegetarian with Toni Fiore, and her guest, Cathi Dicocco, said that parsley you can just stick in a bag and freeze dry, but that cilantro and basil need to be frozen in water in order to keep their color and flavor. So you just pack them into the larger size ice cube trays, which is about 2 T, and then add just enough water to cover, and freeze. Of course some of the leaves float a bit and are exposed, but I didn’t worry about that, and it really did seem to be more flavorful than my usual “stuff it in a bag” method. When the cubes are frozen, you can pop them out and store them in a freezer bag. Can you see how nice and green the cilantro is in the soup?
With the soup we had leftover Whole Grain Herb Bread and I had Oktoberfest beer.
Purple Potatoes, Sorrel, Mustard Greens, Salad Greens, and Braeburn Apples
While the soup was simmering, we walked to the Winter Farmer’s Market to finish yesterday’s shopping. Those are the potatoes that are purple all the way through. The sorrel seemed to be hydroponic and the farmer said he likes them lightly cooked. They were pretty cheap, so I figured I’d give them a try.
Colossal Chocolate Chippers
After dinner I made Colossal Chocolate Chippers.
