by Charles Asbury

Created on: January 09, 2009

Blazing Black Bean and Ham Soup

With winter upon us, I thought it might be nice to do my favorite soup. Nothing is better than a hot and spicy soup to warm you up on a cold winter day. You can make this soup as feisty as you like; it's easy to control the heat by adjusting the amount of peppers. To really spoil your taste buds, top it off with cheese, sour cream or both. Serve as a first course, luncheon or light supper.

Ingredients:

2 cups dried black beans

8 cups of water

1 pound of cooked ham

diced1 ham bone, if desired

5 cloves of garlic, crushed

3 teaspoons of salt

6 green onions(long type)

diced 1 medium sized sweet Vidalia onion-diced

3/4 teaspoon of ground cumin (or to taste)

2 tablespoons(minimum) of ground red hot
chile

3 fresh jalapenos

juice of half of lime

half cup (minimum) of grated Monterey Jack cheese

half cup of dairy sour cream.

Sort and rinse beans, then soak overnight in water to cover, (Or place in a large saucepan and add water to cover; bring to a boil. Remove from heat, cover and let stand 1 hour. Simmer 1-1/2 hours, then proceed with recipe.) Drain beans; place in a large saucepan and add 8 cups cold water, ham, ham bone(if desired), garlic, salt, diced, cloves, cumin, ground chile and lime juice. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer two hours or until beans are tender and soup is thick.

Taste and adjust seasonings. To serve, spoon into bowls and top with sliced green onions, sour cream and cheese. To finish this masterpiece off, put a sliced lime on the side of the bowl. Now step back and admire your hot and spicy delightful dish. Then share of course! Remember to have a cool refreshing drink on stand-by. I recommend my mom's sweet iced tea, but that's me.

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