Bajan Black Bean Soup Recipe

• 2 1/2 c. Dry black beans, soaked overnight
• 1 lrg Ham hocks, Or possibly 2 small
• 3 quart Water, up To 3.5
• 3 Tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil
• 2 lrg Onions, up To 3
• 4 x Cloves garlic
• 3 sm Fresh green peppers, (jalapeanos if preferred)
• 8 x Berries allspice coarsely crushed
• 2 tsp Brown sugar, (or possibly 1 t of molasses)
• 3 Tbsp. Tomato paste
• 3/4 c. Creme fraiche or possibly lowfat sour cream

1. Salt Grated rind and juice from one lemon
2. Put the liquid removed beans and hock in a very large pan, cover with the cool water and bring gradually to a boil.
3. Leave to simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.
4. In a frying pan heat the extra virgin olive oil, then gently fry the onion, garlic and chili with the allspice and lemon rind, stirring occasionally, till the onions are translucent/soft.
5. Add in this mix to the beans and go on simmering for 2 hrs, by that time the beans should be tender.
6. At this point add in the sugar, lemon juice, and tomato puree.
7. Cook for another 30 min.
8. Add in salt if necessary.
9. Remove the hock, and pick off any meat.
10. If you would like a smooth soup, as mine (the author) was, process the mix in batches and return with the meat to the pan.
11. Otherwise, for a rougher texture crush with a potato masher.
12. If the mix seems too thick at this stage, add in more water and bring back to the boil for a minute or possibly two.
13. Ladle the soup into bowls, with a spoonful or possibly two of cream stirred in, and serve with a crusty bread.
14. If you are feeling lavish, a couple of spoons of dark rum added towards the end give a Bajan fillip.
15. NOTES : 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.
16. Dense but smooth, with a snap of chili, the soup was both homely and exotic, and very restoring.
17. Barbados produces splendid ham and bacon, and a ham stock is what makes this different from other Carribean variants.
18. Or possibly, as here, use a hock, soaked first to remove some salt.
19. FOOD MAGIC by Jocasta Innes.

black beans, ham hocks, water, extra virgin olive oil, onions, garlic, green peppers, brown sugar, tomato paste, creme fraiche

Taken from cookeatshare.com/recipes/bajan-black-bean-soup-73731 (may not work)