Black Bean Soup
Awaiting Trial Recipe version 1 · Filed by the Court (seed pool) · Adapted from 'Black Bean Soup' — The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book by Fannie Merritt Farmer, 1910 edition as read on Wikisource / Project Gutenberg eBook #65061 (public domain). Measures and oven temperatures modernized. Conversion: the original's 1 1/2 tablespoons flour binder is replaced with cornstarch at exactly half the flour amount (2 1/4 teaspoons), added as a slurry at the end.
Black beans simmered for hours with onion and celery, rubbed through a sieve, and finished with mustard, cayenne, sliced egg, and lemon. The original's flour binder is swapped for cornstarch at exactly half the amount.
Why this complexity: Beans need an overnight soak and 3 to 4 hours of simmering; Soup is rubbed through a sieve for its texture.
Ingredients
- 1 pint (2 cups) dried black beans
- 2 quarts cold water (8 cups), plus more as it boils away
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 2 stalks celery, broken in pieces (or 1/4 teaspoon celery salt)
- 3 tablespoons butter, divided
- Salt, to taste (about 1 1/2 teaspoons)
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 2 1/4 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water
- 2 hard-cooked eggs, sliced thin
- 1 lemon, sliced thin, seeds removed
Method
- Pick over the beans, cover with cold water, and soak overnight. Drain and add 2 quarts fresh cold water.
- Cook the onion 5 minutes in half the butter; add it to the beans with the celery. Simmer 3 to 4 hours, until the beans are very soft, adding water as it boils away.
- Rub the soup through a sieve (or blend until smooth) and return it to the pot. Bring back to a boil.
- Stir in the salt, pepper, mustard, and cayenne, mixed together. Stir in the cornstarch slurry and simmer 2 minutes, until lightly bound.
- Put the sliced eggs and lemon in a warm tureen or bowls, strain the soup over them, and serve.
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