An amazing recipe and post just in from the amazing Miss Katie M. Read on........
I Married a Beige-atarian.
Some people marry vegetarians, I married a Beige-atarian. He only eats things in shades of beige: meat, pasta, potatoes, yogurt, pork, chicken, rice. Ocasionally, he'll throw in something orange (gasp!) like mac n cheese. So, it really surprised me that he told me that Basque Red Bean soup is one of his all-time favorite meals. I worked at a Basque restaurant in high school, and it was the signature item, everyone loves it. The recipe I've adapted was the closest one I could find to the real thing. I have to admit that it's delicious. I just have to make sure I don't let him see what's in it...
Basque Red Bean Soup - Recipe adapted from http://everything2.com/title/Basque+red+beans
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried small red chili beans
- 8 cups beef stock, I used the boxed kind
- 2 large carrot, diced
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 leek, white and tender green parts, diced
- 2-3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
- ½ pound Basque chorizo, diced (don't use mexican chorizo)
Method
Put the dried beans in a large bowl and cover them with water. Let them soak for four-ish hours. Drain and rinse the beans.
In a big stock pot, mix the beans, stock, carrot, bay leaves, pepper, and onion. Note: If you have a food processor, you could run all the veggies through that. They are pretty much undistinguishable when the soup is done because they cook down completely. Bring it all to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 90 minutes.
Add the leek, potatoes, and chorizo. Simmer for another 30 minutes. If you can find it, use Basque Chorizo (cured), but don't use raw mexican chorizo. If you can't find the Basque version, try a Portuguese linguisa. At the end of the cooking time, the soup will thicken up.
Let the beans cool, and then cover and chill them in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, reheat them just before serving. Don't forget to remove and discard the bay leaves. Serve it up with a Fred Meyer baguette (it's the best one around) or sourdough. This serves a lot of people, I'd say at least 6.
All the ingredients. Look at the size of those leeks!
Getting ready to add the beans.
Meat and leaks added. Soup is still thin and looks stringy because of the leeks. The leeks will completely disentegrate later.
The soup gets really thick and delicious. The longer it sits the better it is.