Black Bean Soup with Ponce

This is my last recipe with ponce, and it's a good one.

I started with a black bean soup mix from the Women's Bean Project. I'm not usually much of a make-it-from-a-mix gal, but these aren't really that sort of mix. You get a bag of beans, a little packet of spices and some instructions.

The company itself supports women who need help getting back on their feet, so it's a good cause. And it's a local company.

Since the company is very local, I can find these at most of the grocers around here. They also sell their products online. For more info, I wrote about the company here.

Of course, this would work perfectly well if you started with regular dried beans and your own spices. The mix included 3/4 pound of beans and a small pack of mixed spices.

If you happen to be all out of ponce, (and I mean, really, how is that possible?) you could use ham or smoked sausage instead.

Black Bean Soup with Ponce

1 pkg. Women's Bean Project black bean soup mix
2 bay leaves
1 onion, diced
2 tablespoons tomato powder (or tomato paste)
Water and/or stock, as needed
Salt, to taste
2 cups ponce, diced
Cooked white rice, for serving
Diced raw onion, for serving (optional)

Soak the beans overnight in water. I used a cast iron Dutch oven, which was also what I used for cooking. No need to dirty an extra pot or bowl.

The next day, drain the beans, then add water (or stock) to cover them by at least a few inches Bring to a boil, skim of any foam that rises to the top, then lower to a simmer.

Add the 2 bay leaves and cook until the beans are just about tender - figure 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Add water or additional stock as needed during cooking, and stir occasionally to keep the beans from sticking to the bottom of the pot. You want this to be a soup, not refried beans.

Add the flavoring from the bean soup mix (or your own seasonings, if you prefer), the onion, tomato powder, and 1 teaspoon salt. (Add the salt only if needed. If your stock had salt, you might not need any more.)

Cook until the onions are and beans are cooked through - another 20-30 minutes should be fine. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, if desired. Remove the bay leaves.

Serve topped with cooked white rice and some diced raw onion.

Ponce - have you ever cooked it?

photo courtesy of Teet's Food Store with permission.

Maybe I should ask you if you know what ponce is. Do you?

First, let me tell you the story about how I got this particular food item. You see, a few months ago - or heck, it was more than that - I was sent some lovely Cajun meats from Teets Food Store through the blog group 37 Cooks. One of the things I received was smoked ponce.

Well, when I got that ponce, I was in the midst of my husband's health crisis. That hunk of ponce was pretty big for just me.

I thought about whacking off a bit and cooking just a little of it, but then I decided to save it so I could share the whole experience with my husband. He's always interested in trying new foods, and this was truly a new food for both of us.

You see, ponce is sort of like a smoked pork sausage, but it's stuffed into a pig stomach. Yep, that's what it is. It's no weirder than sausage stuffed into an intestine, but it does have an ... interesting ... shape.

But how the heck do you cook it?

Let me tell ya, there's not a huge array of recipes for cooking ponce, but I found a few suggestions. And then I figured, hey, it's not much different than other pork products I've worked with. I decided to make a really simple version so the ponce wouldn't be overwhelmed by other flavors.

On night one, I served the ponce simply sliced  with some rice on the side. And then I started using it in other recipes. More recipes will be coming along soon. Very soon.

Braised Ponce

Ponce, sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ponce (about 3 pounds)
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 cups water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or similar heavy pot on medium heat on the stove. Add the ponce and brown on all sides. Or, seriously, since this thing is so odd-shaped, brown it as well as you can.

Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until they are fragrant and beginning to soften. Add the water, slap the lid on, and cook for 2 hours.

Since I had no idea what ponce was all about, I wasn't sure what to do with the "skin" I removed some string that was tying the openings shut, and then I sliced it. I could slice through the skin really easily, but it wasn't something I particularly wanted to chew on. So there ya go. Discard the skin, I guess.

Note: if you read the comments, you'll see that the casing is edible and some people say it's the best part, so we'll go with "personal preference" on that one. If it was more crisp, I would have liked it better, so maybe next time I'll either brown it more ahead of time or crisp it more after cooking.

The cooking liquid made a spicy, flavorful "gravy" to serve with the meat and rice.

The ponce I got was the "plain" version; Teet's also sells a cheese and jalapeno version. The one I got was a little bit spicy but not blazingly hot. Really tasty. Very versatile. Highly recommended.

Black Bean Soup with a Cajun Twist

I adore black bean soup with plenty of white rice, plus a garnish of some diced onion for a bit of crunch.

I've been known to add so much rice that I end up with something more like a stew, and other times, I leave it a little more soupy. Sometimes I'll add a little cilantro or sour cream or crumbled cheese as well. Like any soup, there are plenty of opportunities for customization and embellishments.

This recipe is so simple to make, it's almost cheating. Sure, you have to do a little slicing and dicing, but then it all goes into a slow cooker and there's nothing else to do until you're ready to serve.

The sausage I used here was from Teet's who partnered with the blog group 37 Cooks. It was a smoked garlic pork sausage - a spicier Cajun version of a typical smoked sausage. It added a nice amount of spice to the soup, but it wasn't at all what I'd consider spicy hot - just what I'm looking for in a black bean soup.

Black Bean Soup (with a Cajun twist)

2 cups dried black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup diced onion
2 cups diced Teets smoked garlic pork sausage
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons salt
1 tomato, diced
1 fire roasted red pepper, diced
2 quarts water
2 cups rice, cooked
Diced onion, for garnish

Place the beans, 1 cup of onion, sausage, cumin, salt, tomato, pepper, and water in a slow cooker.

Set the cooker on low and cook until the beans are fully cooked. It took about 14 hours in my cooker, but the time will depend on your slow cooker. And I live at high altitude, and dried beans always take longer to cook.

If you prefer the soup with a little more body, you can use a fork or potato masher to smash some of the beans. If you prefer something even thicker, you can use a stick blender briefly to puree some of the beans.

Serve hot. Pass the rice and onions separately.