Cuban Black Bean Stew

Saturday 25 February

This recipe is based on that in New Joy, adapted for a slow cooker on a slow Saturday.

1 lb dry black beans (2+ cups), soaked overnight and drained

water

olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 medium celery stalks, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 cup dry sherry

1 jalapeno in escabeche, minced

a knuckle of Schad's ham, chopped

2 tsp salt (to taste)

The juice of 1 lemon

1/2 cup chopped scallion greens

Add water to the beans in the crockpot to a level that covers them by a half inch.  Start them cooking on low for ca. 4 hours until tender.  When they are, sauté the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and cumin in oil until softened. Add them and the jalapeno (we used a half of a red one, in an escabeche we'd done ourselves, but yours could be fresh) and ham to the beans; deglaze the pan with sherry, and add that to the crockpot too. 

Continue to simmer on low for about 2 hours until you're ready to eat.  Add salt to taste, lemon juice, and garnish with scallions.

This is really a bean stew rather than a soup, as we want it for our main course.