Recipe - Oaxacan Black Bean Soup (Dressy Version)

2 cup Dry Black Beans; Cleaned
4 Avocado Leaves Or
1 Rib Fresh Fennel Seed;
Roughly Chopped
One half cup Chorizo Sausage; Casing
Removed
1 small White Onions; Diced
1 teaspoon Salt; (Or To Taste)
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil; For Frying
6 Corn Tortillas; **
Creme Fraiche
Chipotle Salsa

Preparation for beans: Place the beans in a mediumsize (4quart) pot,
cover with 6 cups water, remove any beans that float and heat slowly to a
simmer. If using avocado leaves, toast them briefly directly over a medium
gas flame or on a hot griddle. Add the avocado leaves (or fennel), chorizo
and onion to the beans, partially cover and simmer over mediumlow heat,
stirring occasionally, until the beans are fully tender, 1 One half to 2 hours.
If you see the beans peeking up through the liquid, add hot water to cover
them by One half inch.

Finishing the soup: Use an immersion blender to fully puree the soup, or
puree in batches in a food processor or loosely covered blender. Return it
to the pot. Add enough water to thicken to a mediumthick consistency.
Taste and season with salt.

** Recommend stale storebought tortillas, cut or sliced up into 1/8 inchwide
strips, for garnish

Heat the oil in a mediumsize (8 to 9 inch) skillet over mediumhigh heat.
When hot, add about /3 of the tortilla strips and fry, turning frequently,
until they are crisp. Drain on paper towels. Fry the remaining strips in 2
batches.

Serving the soup: Heat the soup to a boil. Ladle into warm soup bowls. Stir
in a swirl of creme fraiche and a swirl of Chipotle Salsa and top with a
few of the crisp tortilla strips and grilled green onions.

Recipe by: Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen, 1996

Posted to MasterCook Digest V1 #407 by "Carrie"
carriejmclain@worldnet.att.net on Jan 18, 1998