For the stovetop, if you want to make it faster, you can soak the beans overnight in the 7 cups of water and I like to salt the at this point too. It doesn’t matter how you make this, only that you do. In 2017, I I added InstantPot/Electric pressure cooker directions as well as long-overdue stovetop directions. For most people who have commented, 6 hours was just right, so I’ve written it as so. In hindsight, my slow-cooker runs hotter than normal (closer to a low simmer on the stove). Note: The original recipe calls for 6 hours in a slow-cooker. Three years ago: Panakes, English Muffins and a Salade Lyonnaise One year ago: Almond Vanilla Rice Pudding

Throw in chipotle, peppers, garlic, onions and a healthy dose of cumin and you too can have this unbelievable soup from the tiniest effort. And now, with no presoaking, no simmering, just tossing cold dried beans in the slow cooker for just shy of three hours and they are perfection itself: bean nirvana. I’ve always loved eating beans but the inconsistent and generally lackluster quality of canned beans frustrated me and the patience required to simmer something for hours on the stove eluded me. Have I told you how awesome the slow cooker is for resuscitating dried beans? There’s nothing better, period. Or it would have been if that, too, hadn’t also ended up being ridiculously good. Frankly, the soup is just an excuse to get to it. Since I’ve been slow cooker obsessed since that very day, I vowed to make a version entirely in my new BFF, and to top it with that toasted cumin seed cream. I mean, the soup was delicious but the crema was one of those toppings that was in lock-step with the soup: the richest, creamiest, smokiest accent to a spicy, hearty soup. My friend Jocelyn made a wonderful black bean soup and she topped it with a toasted cumin seed crema and I just about died, the crema was so good. (Jacob, however, got into the margaritas. But I bet I know what you’ve been wondering since then, “But no appetizer?” Well, let this question vex your brain no longer: we had soup. We pulled it into tacos with slaw and pickled onions and it was a great end to a great year. Or, the way we talk about it, thhhuuuuh brisssssket, it’s deliciousness making our syllables stretch out melodramatically.

Black bean soup