Feb 28 2010

TGI Friday’s Black Bean Soup

podrey @ 8:21 pm

Reference: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2, by Todd Wilbur

  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil (i don’t use this)
  • 3/4 cup diced onion (i use a whole onion, however much that is)
  • 3/4 cup diced celery (i use more than this)
  • 1/2 cup diced carrot (i use a lot more than this)
  • 1/4 cup diced green bell pepper (i use 1-2 whole green peppers)
  • 2 tbsp minced garlic
  • 4 15-oz cans black beans
  • 4 cups chicken broth (i use 4 15-oz cans)
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp liquid hickory smoke
  • shredded cheese for garnish

Audrey’s instructions:

  1. Don’t worry about dicing the vegetables.  Instead, puree all the vegetables in the blender (with chicken broth) and add them to the pressure cooker.
  2. Rinse the black beans in cold water and drain.  Add to the blender with chicken broth and puree.  (I puree all the black beans, though the official recipe says to leave some whole.)  Add to pressure cooker.
  3. Add all the rest of the ingredients to the pressure cooker.
  4. Put on pressure cooker lid and heat on high until full pressure is reached.  Reduce heat to medium and cook at high pressure for 2-5 minutes, depending on your pressure cooker.  (I cook for 2:30.)
  5. Garnish with cheese and serve.

Official instructions from Top Secret Recipes 2 book.

  1. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large saucepan over medium/low heat.  Add onion, celery, carrot, bell pepper and garlic to the oil and simmer slowly for 15 minutes or until the onions are practically clear.  Keep the heat low enough that the veggies don’t brown.
  2. While you cook the veggies, pour the canned beans into a strainer and rinse them under cold water.
  3. Measure 3 cups of the drained and rinsed beans into a food processor with 1 cup of chicken broth.  Puree on high speed until smooth.
  4. When the veggies are ready, pour the pureed beans, the whole beans, the rest of the chicken broth, and every other ingredient in the list (down to the liquid smoke) to the pot.  Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 50-60 minutes or until soup has thickened and all the ingredients are tender.  Serve the soup topped with a couple tablespoons of the cheese and a tsp or so of chopped green onion.