A Good Soup for the Sick

(from kylerhea’s recipe box)

“I used Rancho Gordo Borlotti beans for this recipe, but you could use other beans from the cranberry family if they are more readily available. The thing I love about Rancho Gordo beans is that they are fresh crop dried beans. Some of the dried beans you come into contact with in stores are from crops five or more years ago. Steve’s beans are typically less than a year old and they plump up beautifully.”

Source: 101 Cookbooks website

Serves 4 people

Categories: SOUPS, VEGETARIAN

Ingredients

  • 1 pound cranberry beans (like Borlotti)
  • 8 cups of water
  • 15 medium cloves of garlic, peeled and trimmed
  • 2 big shallots (I might have used a white onion but didn't have one), sliced on the axis into thin crescents
  • 2-3 dried smoked chiles (I used smoked serranos) but I suspect dried chipotles or even one or two chipotles from the can (in adobo sauce) would work nicely
  • 2 teaspoons+ fine sea salt for seasoning
  • a drizzle of flavorful extra-virgin olive oil
  • a small handful of cilantro, chopped
  • a couple (optional) handfuls of a salty hard cheese, Parmesan, grated (I think my mystery cheese was actually Three Sisters Serena)

Directions

  1. Soak your beans overnight. Before soaking give them a good rinse. Look carefully for any pebbles or dirt clumps. Cover with a few extra inches of water, the Borlottis take in a lot of liquid. When you are ready to use the beans, drain them, rinse again, and set aside.

  2. eheat your oven to 350. Place the racks near the bottom of the oven.

  3. Put the beans, water, garlic, shallots, and chiles in an oven-proof pot or casserole – preferably one with an oven-proof lid. Place the pot on a rimmed baking sheet (in case of accidental overflow), and place in the oven for two hours, or until beans are nice and tender. After the first hour check every twenty minutes or so. When the beans are done, pull the pot out of the oven and season generously with salt. Stir and taste. Season so the broth tastes just right, the beans need some time to take in the saltier broth at this point, so once you have the broth seasoned nicely, just let the soup sit there on the top of the stove, covered for another ten minutes or so. Taste and adjust for seasoning one more time and drizzle with a bit of olive oil.

  4. To serve, first ladle a generous scoop of beans into each bowl, and follow with the broth to cover. Sprinkle with cilantro and cheese.

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