Brenda's black bean soup

6 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
3 cups Dried black beans
2 Ham hocks
1 Bell pepper (chopped)
1 small Onion (chopped)
1 Whole sour orange or tangerine
1 tablespoon Vinegar (if you used a sweet orange or tangerine)
1 Stick oleo
2 tablespoons Of flour

Directions

Tried out the "White Trash Cookbook" last night and whipped up this black bean soup. In spite of the fact that I forgot to finish it with the browned flour and butter, it turned out pretty darn good, if a tad bland. (I did cheat and use real butter instead of oleo.) Here's the recipe. Never having had black bean soup before, let alone making it, I'm not sure what would be kosher to liven it up a bit. Anyone have any tips? I served it with cornbread and a plate of sliced home grown tomatoes. BTW, the recipe is transcribed exactly as it appears in the book to give a taste of Mickler's writing style. Pretty neat stuff, though I'm not sure if I'm ready for the cold collard sandwich yet...

Salt and pepper to taste

Put your beans in a soup pot and cover with water. Boil, take off the fire and let sit until cool. Cook onions and bell peppers in ½ the oleo until limp. Add them and the ham hocks and orange to the cooled beans; cover charitably with water. Simmer until beans is soft (1 to 2 hours). Fish out the orange right now, before it gets tore up. With the rest of the oleo, brown the flour in a black frying pan, then stir it into the beans. Brenda says: "Make sure you got a soup, now.

If you need to add some more water, do it." From "White Trash Cooking", Ernest Matthew Mickler. Ten Speed Press, 1986. ISBN 0-89815-189-9.

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