Bajan black bean soup

 
                           BAJAN BLACK BEAN SOUP
 
 Recipe By     : 
 Serving Size  : 6    Preparation Time :0:00
 Categories    : Soups
 
   Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
 --------  ------------  --------------------------------
    2 1/2   c            Dried black beans, soaked
                         -overnight
    1       lg           Or 2 small ham hocks
    3                    To 3.5 quarts water
    3       tb           Olive oil
    2                    To 3 large onions
    4                    Cloves garlic
    3       sm           Fresh green peppers
                         -(jalapeanos if preferred)
    8                    Berries allspice coarsely
                         -crushed
    2       ts           Brown sugar (or 1 t of
                         -molasses)
    3       tb           Tomato paste
      3/4   c            Creme fraiche or sour cream
 
   Salt Grated rind and juice from one lemon
   
   Put the drained beans and hock in a very large pan,
   cover with the cold water and bring gradually to a
   boil. Leave to simmer while you prepare the other
   ingredients.
   
   In a frying pan heat the olive oil, then gently fry
   the onion, garlic and chili with the allspice and
   lemon rind, stirring occasionally, until the onions
   are translucent. Add this mixture to the beans and go
   on simmering for 2 hours, by which time the beans
   should be tender. At this point add the sugar, lemon
   juice, and tomato puree. Cook for another 30 minutes.
   Add salt if necessary.
   
   Remove the hock, and pick off any meat.  If you would
   like a smooth soup, as mine (the author) was, process
   the mixture in batches and return with the meat to the
   pan. Otherwise, for a rougher texture crush with a
   potato masher.  If the mixture seems too thick at this
   stage, add more water and bring back to the boil for a
   minute or two.
   
   Ladle the soup into bowls, with a spoonful or two of
   cream stirred in, and serve with a crusty bread.
   
   If you are feeling lavish, a couple of spoons of dark
   rum added towards the end give a Bajan fillip.
   
   INFO TEXT: Arriving stiff and crumpled inside and out
   after an eleven hour flight, this was my first taste
   of Bajan Cooking, and I ate it late at night trying to
   imagine the sea beyond a dark frieze of langourous
   palms. Dense but smooth, with a snap of chili, the
   soup was both homely and exotic, and very restoring.
   
   Barbados produces splendid ham and bacon, and a ham
   stock is what makes this different from other
   Carribean variants. Or, as here, use a hock, soaked
   first to remove some salt.
   
   From a book called FOOD MAGIC by Jocasta Innes.
   
   Posted by Troy Wade. Courtesy of Fred Peters.
  
 
 
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