Brazilian style spicy black turtle bean soup with orange juice and sherry.
I have to admit, I wasn’t excited about making this recipe. First, I had to borrow a crock pot from my next-door neighbor (thanks Shelley!). The soup has to cook for 6 or 8 hours and it’s been 100 degrees every day for the past week. Since I didn’t want to heat up the house, James and I talked about putting the crock pot outside on the picnic table and running an extension cord. Then we thought better knowing the neighborhood has nocturnal critters. So I decided back porch it is!
Soon our house started to smell like the restaurant. James and I had a bowl for dinner tonight…and then we went back for seconds. Now I understand why everyone was asking me to put this recipe on the blog. This soup is really good!
Spicy Black Bean soup was a standard at Myra’s. If you worked the late shift, after closing you had to make this recipe in the crock pot before you left. It would cook all night and in the morning the whole kitchen smelled like black bean soup!
I made the full recipe posted below because it freezes well and I wanted to give some to my neighbor when I returned her slow cooker. If you have a smaller crock pot, you can cut this recipe in half. When I was making soup every Tuesday for soup and salad day at the Cactus Club, I tried making this soup on the stove using canned black beans. It’s not the same as when you cook it slowly for all those hours. It’s good, but if you want the full flavor of what you remember from Myra’s, use a crock pot or plan on simmering it on the stove all day on a cool fall day or in the middle of winter!
This is the same spicy black bean recipe that was served at the restaurant over brown rice with Feta cheese, pepperoncini and olives. We like it with cheddar cheese and James’ salsa. It’s also great in burritos. James says this is one of those recipes where you really don’t miss meat.
Myra’s Spicy Black Bean Soup
Equipment
- 1 7 quart crock pot
- 1 knife and cutting board
- 1 4 cup measuring cup
Ingredients
- 4 cups black turtle beans washed and checked for stones
- 3 cups chopped celery (use the leaves also)
- 3 cups chopped onion
- 9 cloves garlic, chopped fine (1 teas equals one clove)
- 1 TBSL rounded, salt
- 1 TBLS rounded, corriander
- 1 TBLS rounded, cumin
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 teas rounded, black pepper
- 1/4 teas red pepper (I used cayenne)
- 2 quarts water
- 1/3 cup dry sherry
- 1/2 cup undiluted frozen orange juice
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
Instructions
- Wash and check the beans for stones. Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker, add the water and stir to combine. (The water should come up to the top of the cooker.)
- Set slow cooker on high for 6 to 8 hours. Stir once after the 1st hour.
- When finished add the sherry, frozen orange juice and lemon juice. Stir to combine and serve.
Notes
use in burritos, serve soup with tortilla chips, mix rice and beans with feta and pepperoncini and olives.
4 responses to “Myra’s Spicy Black Bean Soup”
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What a winner. This recipe is just how I remember it. My kids devoured it, even the one year old. Perfection! -
Thanks for sharing! I did it in my Instant Pot on High Pressure for 30 minutes, and it turned out fantastic. The full recipe just fit in my 6 quart. I will be halving in the future. I used 2 1-pound bags of dried beans which was a touch over 4 cups, and did sauté the onion and celery first (only change).I think next time I’ll just use proportionally more OJ, since I don’t tend to have frozen OJ in the house.
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This is one of my all time favorite soups. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It turned out amazing and brought back lots of great memories of eating at Myra’s. I am thrilled you are doing this project! -
I can’t wait to make this and serve it over rice with feta and pepperoncini like the “Turtle Eyes” recipe from my Cincinnati days. Thank you!
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