Recipe(tried): Garbanzo Bean Soup - Cuban Style

GARBANZO BEAN SOUP (CUBAN STYLE)

1 lb. dried garbanzo beans
3 cups water
2 cans (14 oz. each) low-fat chicken broth
1/2 lb. chorizo sausage, sliced 3/4-inch thick, casing removed
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 medium green bell pepper, both ends discarded, seeded, pith removed and finely chopped
1 cup onion, peeled, ends discarded, minced
2 medium potatoes, diced in 1/2-inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, peeled, mashed and finely minced
1 cup celery, chopped finely
1/2 cup tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce, to taste
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon Ac'cent flavor enhancer (MSG)
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 bay leaves
ground black pepper, to taste
*salt, to taste

Soak beans overnight (8 hours minimum) fully immersed plus 2 additional inches of water.

Discard soaking water and rinse beans thoroughly and drain. Always LOOK FOR STONES IN THE BEANS. Do not eat the stones!

In your bean cooking pot, over medium-high heat, brown the Chorizo in 2 Tablespoons of the oil.

Add and saute the onion, celery and green pepper to the Chorizo, stirring until onion is translucent.

Add the tomato paste and potatoes, stir over heat for approximately one more minute until combined.

Add the water, chicken broth and bay leaves to the meat mixture and bring to a rolling boil. Add in the drained soaked beans and allow the mixture to return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until beans are nearly tender; about 2 hours.

In a small clean bowl, mash the garlic, paprika, cumin and dry mustard together until very well blended.

Over medium heat in a small saucepan, heat the remaining oil.

Add the mashed and mixed ground dry spice/garlic mixture. Add 2/3 cup of the liquid from the cooking beans and the Tabasco sauce. Cook spice mixture an additional 5 minutes, stirring constantly until ingredients are fully combined.

Add the spice mixture into the bean pot and stir over medium heat until ingredients are fully combined. Simmer, partially covered, for one additional hour (3 hours total cooking time.)

Before serving, puree** 2 cups of the cooked beans and stir back into the pot. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Do not puree the bay leaves!

Serve very hot. Tabasco and warmed fresh buttered Cuban bread as sides.

* You may not need additional salt. The canned broth often has plenty.

** Puree Made Easy
When pureeing in small amounts, the mess is not worth the trouble. Here is a tip that will get a delicious pur e without the blender/food processor mess. Simply place the ingredients to be pureed into a large shallow rounded -bottom bowl. Using a small sturdy salad fork, mash the foods to be pureed thoroughly and completely, in a very small amount of the liquid. Return the pur e back to the cooking pot. Stir in thoroughly.