Last night the women’s book group of my parish met at my house to discuss Summer Lightning by Wodehouse, and The Holy Angels by Mother Alexandra. I cooked up two pots of soup, and the other women brought rustic loaves of bread and salad and dessert.
Long ago I had got the idea of Cuban Black Beans from the Laurel’s Kitchen cookbook, and devised a soup with the same name to eat in winter, when the fresh and raw veggies the book’s authors suggested for a topping weren’t available from the garden out back. Now in the era of internet recipes, I discovered several recipes for the soup, and they used a sofrito, added in the last stage of cooking, made up of the peppers, garlic and onion sauteed with olive oil and bacon, topped off with vinegar and spices. This is what my sofrito looked like:
The beans in this case are cooked with ham hocks at the beginning, so it ends up a meaty and flavorful bowl for a winter’s evening. Mine was just the amount of spicy I wanted, but I’m not sure I could replicate that next time, if there is a next time. I had printed out three recipes from online, and concocted a unique stew, using parts of all of them and my old recipe, too. It took two pounds of beans, and I had plenty to send home with a few guests, as well as to put in the freezer. Because we also had Florentine Spinach Soup, which I have posted about before. Overall the women liked the soups very much.
Thanks to our member who enjoys coming up with appropriately themed foods for our meetings, we ate angel food cake last night as well! I hadn’t read the Jeeves book that was discussed, but I did read The Holy Angels, and I plan to share a bit about that soon. We all thought it was a treasure.
This morning I actually took my walk before breakfast — that mostly because I ate breakfast so late. Now that I’m putting a high priority on walking, I need to keep re-setting it at the top of my mental list, so I don’t forget. One of these days I’m sure I will forget, and then (note to self) I’ll need to take a quick spin around the block in the dark, just before bed. I wonder if this is one of those behaviors that becomes a habit if you do it every day for three weeks?
I worked some more on Psalm 89 as I walked, and the beauty of its poetry did not distract me from the startling sights along the way, whose images I have shared here. One line from the Psalm:
So make Thy right hand known to me,
And to them that in their heart
Are instructed in wisdom.
Amen.
Gladsome Lights 
What fun, that you were strolling through the streets beneath cloud streets!
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I guess I was!
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I’m sure your soup was delicious. The topping would be something I think I’d like too….with some lovely bread. Yum.
Amazing clouds in that last picture.
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That sofrito is added at the end but it all gets mixed in and simmered for a while, so it’s not exactly topping.
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I enjoy the thought of you mixing recipes according to what you have and what you are used to making. I frequently have to substitute ingredients as the supermarkets here offer limited fare. Only I know that the resultant dish isn’t quite what I had planned – but don’t ask me to repeat it, for such recipes for I would never recall the right combinations! Offering soup and bread is an excellent choice. The angel cake must have been delicious too.
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The soup sounds delicious. I’ve never made sofrito but all the ingredients sound like a great addition to a soup with beans in it. Good for you for getting out and walking. Where we live now we can’t walk around a block especially at night. We have to come up with a workable walking plan. Love the Psalms…
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You’re right about winter food. I do love soup — it’s just the best in the winter! And angel food cake sounds good!
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That’s the kind of sky that makes me wish I knew all about cloud formations and could identify what caused that particular one. You have no idea how beautiful I think your sofrito is. The sofrito is the cherry on top of the sundae! I love seeing them and I love making them as well as tasting them stirred into the soup. My own Cuban black bean soup recipe keeps getting ingredients inked on to the original recipe in my Nancy Jenkins Mediterranean cookbook because I really don’t care for it on its own. I even have to include white rice to lighten up the intensity of the beans. My latest addition has been crisp shredded cabbage added the last few minutes of cooking and I’m thinking baby bok choy would also be delicious. I’ve given up on cooking dried black beans though when Goya’s canned organic black beans are so good.
I love the idea of following soups with Angel Food Cake! I have 7 frozen egg whites in my freezer now, trying to collect the dozen I’ll need for one. But actually I think the best part of your meal was the company, women friends gathered together.
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Dewena, thank you for a most delicious comment! ❤
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