June 12: Black Bean Soup with Chipotle Chiles

I am having a hectic and very odd week, which I will maybe not go into a lot of detail about here, because you're probably here about the food. So, I will keep it brief, but still attempt to be interesting.

In Michigan, there is a wonderful Mexican restaurant in a small town called Otsego that serves the best black bean soup on this earth. Seriously.

I have never been able to recreate it, but this may not be a bad approximation. In addition, chipotles are smoky, which eliminates the need for bacon. Make no mistake, I am not saying that bacon is a bad thing, but, you know, some people don't dig on the pig. There's a ham steak in here too, which you can totally do without. Just leave it out.

Black Bean Soup with Chipotle Chiles

Beans

1 pound dried black beans (2 cups), rinsed and picked over
4 ounces ham steak , trimmed of rind
2 bay leaves
5 cups water
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt

Soup

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, chopped fine (about 3 cups)
1 large carrot, chopped fine (about 1/2 cup)
3 ribs celery, chopped fine (about 1 cup)
1/2 teaspoon table salt
5 - 6 medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 1/2 tablespoon)
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon minced chipotle chiles in adobo
2 teaspoons adobo sauce
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons lime juice , from 1 to 2 limes

Garnishes

lime wedges
minced fresh cilantro leaves
red onion , finely diced
avocado , diced medium
sour cream

1. FOR THE BEANS: Place beans, ham, bay, water, and baking soda in large saucepan with tight-fitting lid. Bring to boil over medium-high heat; using large spoon, skim scum as it rises to surface. Stir in salt, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer briskly until beans are tender, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours (if necessary, add another 1 cup water and continue to simmer until beans are tender); do not drain beans. Discard bay. Remove ham steak (ham steak darkens to color of beans), cut into 1/4-inch cubes, and set aside.

2. FOR THE SOUP: Heat oil in 8-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking; add onions, carrot, celery, and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft and lightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and add garlic and cumin; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Stir in beans, bean cooking liquid, chipotle chiles, adobo sauce, and chicken broth. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, to blend flavors, about 30 minutes.

3. TO FINISH THE SOUP: Ladle 1 1?2 cups beans and 2 cups liquid into food processor or blender, process until smooth, and return to pot. Stir together cornstarch and water in small bowl until combined, then gradually stir about half of cornstarch mixture into soup; bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, to fully thicken. If soup is still thinner than desired once boiling, stir remaining cornstarch mixture to recombine and gradually stir mixture into soup; return to boil to fully thicken. Off heat, stir in lime juice and reserved ham; ladle soup into bowls and serve immediately, passing garnishes separately.

May 3: White Bean Puree

The Kitchen will return after these messages: my best friend, The Cutest Little Pregnant Woman On Earth, is pregnant and expecting a baby next month. Next month, holy crap, people! This is the woman who was never interested or amenable to having children, and it took this girl about six seconds to get pregnant once she decided to go for it, dammit! I have a lot of knitting to do for her little person, I have been woefully neglectful. I have finished a gorgeous little lacy blanket and am working on booties and a hat in the same soy yarn to go with it; I also have a very simple little striped acrylic blanket in vanilla, chocolate, and swirl which is halfway done, more or less.

The good news is that I have lots of free time.

I will hit you with the Advanced Pantry tomorrow. I am looking forward to it. I've finished one bootie tonight and tomrrow I'm planning on going to the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival, and I am going to cry a little when I think about all of the gorgeous, exotic, locally-grown fibers I'm going to put my hands on tomorrow, and not be able to afford. In fact, I anticipate shedding so many tears that I may be a little dehydrated and unable to knit tomorrow, so I need to get on with this second little bootie (OMG, yo, so stinking cute, and incredibly easy) while I still have my head about me. So, instead, here's an Intermediate Pantry recipe--with the exception of hot sauce (which I don't keep in my pantry because I make my own). Spread on toasted baguettes, this is a wonderful, elegant, simple appetizer, it comes together in about a second, seriously. It's a nice change from hummus, which I love.

White Bean Puree
4 cloves garlic
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups canned white beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Hot pepper sauce

In a saucepan, sweat the garlic in chicken stock. Add the beans and cook until heated through.
Transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender and puree with the remaining ingredients, except hot pepper sauce. Adjust seasoning, and add hot sauce, to taste. Keep warm until ready to serve.

February 10: Creamy White Bean and Chorizo Soup

My favorite thing about the internet (besides, as Heather says, all the free goat porn) is that it gives you access to information that would normally, by its own nature, be inaccessable. The best example that I can think of, in this context, is recipes. I no longer have to carry subscriptions to Cooking Light, Cook's Illustrated, Bon Appetit, Fine Cooking, and Food and Wine--the recipes and a fairly broad array of their articles are available to me, sometimes for a minimal subscription fee, online.

Of course, I do still subscibe to several of these: Food and Wine, Fine Cooking and Cook's Illustrated. I do it because many of their articles are only available in their hard copies and also, because I like the collectability of them. I have several years of issues of all of them and they're like my cookbooks: practically priceless, at least to me.

I gave up my subsciption to Bon Appetit last year in favor of using Epicurious instead. It's simpler by far to search their archives than to page back through my collections to find exactly what it is that I'm looking for. When I woke this morning to the sound (and movement) of the heavy winds that are currently buffeting my condo, I knew exactly what I wanted: a hearty winter soup, starchy and creamy and spicy all at once. I knew where to go for it too: the Internet. I'm planning on making this tonight with some kind of bread, something rustic and toasty, and a 2003 California Pinot Noir that I've been hoarding.

This serves 6.

1 pound dried cannellini or Great Northern beans (generous 2 cups)

8 cups water
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3 garlic cloves; 1 smashed, 2 chopped
1 large fresh rosemary sprig
1 bay leaf
1 large onion, coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)
1 large carrot, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)
1 large celery stalk, coarsely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
2 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme, divided
4 cups (or more) low-salt chicken broth
1 pound fresh chorizo link sausages, casings removed
1/4 cup whipping cream

Place beans in heavy large saucepan. Add enough water to pan to cover beans by 4 inches. Let beans soak overnight at room temperature. (Edited: Or do what I do and use canned beans: a good quality, like 365 Brand from Whole Foods, about two cans, drained and rinsed.)

Drain and rinse beans; return to same saucepan. Add 8 cups water, 1 tablespoon oil, smashed garlic clove, rosemary, and bay leaf. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover, and simmer until beans are just tender, 1 to 11/2 hours. Season to taste with salt. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cool slightly, cover, and chill.)

Drain beans, reserving cooking liquid. Discard rosemary sprig and bay leaf. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, and celery. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until vegetables are beginning to soften, about 10 minutes. Add chopped garlic and 1 teaspoon thyme; sauté 2 minutes. Add 2 cups reserved bean cooking liquid, 4 cups chicken broth, and beans. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered until vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes. Cool soup 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, sauté chorizo in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through, breaking up lumps with back of spoon, about 5 minutes. Transfer chorizo to paper towels to drain.

Using slotted spoon, remove 1 1/2 cups bean mixture from soup; reserve. Working in batches, puree remaining soup in blender until smooth. Return puree to pot. Stir in reserved whole-bean mixture, remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons thyme, chorizo, and cream. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill uncovered until cold. Cover and keep chilled.) Rewarm soup over medium heat, thinning with more broth if desired. Season with salt and pepper. Divide soup among bowls and serve.