Moroccan-Inspired Bean Soup
Dante was right. The center of hell has no fire. It's a lake of ice.
I don't know how it is where you are; but here in New England, we've descended into the deep freeze. It's cold. Really cold. We haven't made it above freezing in a couple of weeks.
Which is fine for Christmas and New Year's. Sort of makes the season. And Dreydl seems very happy, chasing his tire in the snow. But I've got my fingers crossed that come the second of January, we'll be in the mid-70s. I washed my bathing suit this morning. Or was I being too hopeful?
With the chill, we've been having great comfort food--like this bean soup I concocted the other night while Bruce was out teaching knitting. I used the template for Bean Soup in COOKING KNOW-HOW. If you haven't heard me say so about a zillion times already, that's the book that won the best-in-the-world award at the Paris Book Show. Quite the little tome we wrote--which you can find here.
The spice mixture I used is a rather classic Moroccan blend. But my soup was inspired by Moroccan flavors. As you'll see, there's a significant deviation. Significant.
So let's get to it. You'll make six to eight servings worth.
First, soak 2 cups (350 grams) dried cranberry beans overnight in water. Why? Because dried beans need to rehydrate for proper cooking. No, you don't have to soak beans overnight; but cooking not-soaked, dried beans in a soup rquires 1) about 50% more liquid and 2) about 25% more time. Plus, the beans can get too mushy from the long-cooking. So soak away for the best texture.
The next day, start by building your spice mixture. Here's where that Moroccan flare comes in--this is a fairly common spice melange for tagines. Mix all this in a small bowl: 2 teaspoons (4 grams) ground coriander, 1 teaspoon (3 grams) ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon (2 1/2 grams) ground ginger, 1 teaspoon (2 1/2 grams) ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon (1 gram) ground fenugreek, and 1/4 teaspoon (a generous pinch) saffron threads.
Also, mince the rind of a small preserved Moroccan lemon. Remove it from the brine, cut it in half, scoop out the flesh, and cut that rind into tiny bits. If you've never used a preserved lemon, it will offer a salty, sour pop, a great punch in soups and stews. You can usually find them in jars at better grocery stores among the pickles or perhaps with the spices. Refrigerate once opened.
Now you're ready to start cooking. And here's where it gets "Moroccan-inspired," not Moroccan. Cube 9 ounces (250 grams) slab bacon and brown it in a large pot over medium heat. See? Not exactly the most culturally-sensitive moment to put bacon in something from Morocco. But it tasted really good. So no fatwas, please.
You'll note my bacon was in rather large cubes. And I really let it get brown, much more so than even in this picture.
Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a bowl and drain off all but a couple of tablespoons (perhaps 30 ml) of the fat in the pot.
Add all of the following: 1 medium yellow onion, chopped; 3 medium carrots, chopped; 1 medium celeriac (or celery root), chopped; and 2 dried figs, stemmed and then minced. Reduce the heat a bit and let these go in the bacon fat until they're soft and luxurious. That dried fig will add so much sweetness to the stew--but a complex sweetness at that, quite elegant.
Scrape and pour the spice mixture and the minced preserved lemon rind into the stew. Stir over the heat a few seconds until aromatic, then return the bacon to the pot. Drain the beans and add them as well. Finally, pour in 4 cups (1 quart or a little less than 1 liter) fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth and 4 cups (1 quart or a little less than 1 liter) vegetable broth.
Raise the heat to medium-high and bring the soup to a boil, stirring occasionally to get the browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook slowly, stirring once in a while, until the beans are quite tender, about 2 1/2 hours. Check for salt--there's a lot in the bacon and preserved lemon--then serve at will.
Mark Scarbrough | Posted on Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at 10:16AM | in Comfort Food, Main Courses, Soups
Reader Comments (8)
Ohhhhhhhh! This sound yummy! Will make for New Year's :)
Going to check and see if my library has your Cooking Know How :)
Happiness is reading cookbooks!
Happy New Year!
I just received my copy of this fabulous cookbook in the mail yesterday and have already tried the stir-fry method - resulting in the best stir-fry I have made to date. Truly. I think every kitchen should have this resource and this bean soup looks amazing.
You both are so sweet! Thanks. I'm rather proud of that book, too. I think it's the smartest thing we've written--although perhaps not the funniest. That would be HAM. But still. Lots of good info in COOKING KNOW-HOW. I'm only sorry it wasn't put in metric equivalents as well.
M.
Brilliant! I would never have thought to add dried fig to a bean soup! And love the addition of bacon - we often use ham bones in our version of harira soup - again, not very culturally sensitive, but delicious nonetheless.. :)
sounds absolutely delish!!! (even for one who isn't fond of beans)
Oh no, you've answered the question I had hovering in the back of my head. While I'm old enough to be familiar with imperial, I'm a metric fan at heart. And there's always the additional confusion of an American pint being different from an Irish one, while quarts are something we just didn't have at all. Disappointing to hear that but on the other hand, so-called metric conversions which assume you have a digital scales instead of one that only has increments of 25 are kind of irritating too so it might be a case of six of one, half a dozen of the other. :) Of course, you could always get on to your publisher and explain how you need to bring out a second edition for the growing European market.
That bean stew sounds nice too, must give it a try, I've been wanting to start using far more spices in my cooking.
I've been on a self-imposed moratorium from cookbook purchases, but I might have to change my ways!
As for the weather, here in central IN we're supposed to get in the 50s by the end of the week. I'm so excited. It will feel like we're in the -- well, I was going to say south, but they're getting some pretty cold weather, too. It will feel great nonethieless.
Sally: We got almost two feet of snow. I just took Dreydl out and the wind drove us back inside. Ridiculously cold here.
M.