Brenda’s Black Bean Soup

Servings: 6
Ingredients:

3 c  Dried black beans
2    Ham hocks
1    Bell pepper (chopped)
1 sm Onion (chopped)
1    Whole sour orange or
-tangerine
1 tb Vinegar (if you used a sweet
-orange or tangerine)
1    Stick oleo
2 tb Of flour

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 1/2 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.