Hearty Winter Black Bean Soup

This is another hearty winter soup.  Black beans are so delicious and work well with pork.  I used my sister's spicy venison sausage for this.  I squeezed the meat out of the casing and browned it before adding to the soup.  Corn adds a little colour.  This freezes well and you can put it away for single servings.  The only addition I might make next time would be some barley or rice or potatoes.

Black Bean Soup

1/2 lb turtle beans
1 meaty ham hock
1/2 lb mild Italian sausage
1/2 lb spicy Italian sausage
1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped & sauteed with the garlic
6 cloves garlic, squashed
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 cups frozen corn
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley

Soak the turtle beans overnight.  Drain and rinse.

Fill a stock pot with about 8 cups of cold water.  Add ham hock, soaked black beans, sauteed onion & garlic and all herbs & spices.  Bring to a boil and simmer for about 2 hours or the beans are tender and ham falls off the bone.  Remove the ham hock and shred the meat.  Add the meat back to the soup.  Sautee the sausage and add to the soup.  Add the corn and flat leaf parsley.  Serve.  This would be nice with a dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche.

This freezes well.  Put it away for instant lunches.