In the Land of Jason

  So, I scheduled myself to work 4-5 days in a row starting this Friday so that I can then have off the following Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for the medical missions conference and use this week to send out resumes and make calls. This spacing will make it easier to call offices while I’m awake rather than just before I got to bed or as I’m getting up. No one wants to hire someone that sounds foggy at 10am or worse admits they just got up at 4pm. Plus, it’s easier for me to get errands done during the day which leads me into today entry.

I was served the best frickin black bean soup while I was at the Hotel Casa Del Rey in Chichicastenango, Guatemala. Chichi is world famous for its market on Thursday and Saturday and is also the location of the church where the Pop Wuj was rediscovered. Located just a few minutes from the market its situated in the hillside and is close enough to walk to market but just far enough that the air is clean and the night is quiet. The hotel also doubles as a job training facility. Their ministry is to train local Guatemalan in hospitality, cooking, and ministry. It’s a beautiful place; you can see some of the pictures I took of it here. The hotel is competitively priced and a very safe, clean option. Plus they also have a pool. Normally black bean soup is OK but this was so good that it was startling. After profusely complimenting the cook, I asked if I could have the recipe. The waiter came back out with the cook and hand written instructions.

Should you be going to Chichi I encourage you to stay there not only to support the ministry but also for a bowl of the best black bean chili I’ve ever tried. I gave it a try to today. Below is my translation with alterations or trouble spots in parenthesis.

Black bean soup

Ingredients

½ pound of black beans (Dried or cans? I usually start with dry beans. I/2 dry or reconstituted? However since most bags of beans come in ½ pounds I think I got this one right. Though I used a full pound of dried beans)

Chopped Onion-one onion (unsure what kind of onion-I used a med yellow and that seemed about right)

Chile pimiento-One medium bell pepper (chile pimiento can be a few different kinds. I used a red pepper because I remember the red flecks.)

Chopped bacon-4 strips of bacon

Salt to taste

Directions

1. Cook the beans after liquefying them. (I liquefied mine in a blender after prepping beans (aka boiling and softening them)

2. Fry the bacon, onion, green pepper. (I fried the bacon first and set it aside and then fried the onions and red pepper in the grease. I should have chopped the onions more finely. I fried them on a med heat until the onions were caramelized. You don’t want crunchy onions. Same goes for the bacon).

3. Cook with a sprig (literally branch) of hierba buena* and salt to taste (this actually was a part of step 2 but I moved it to step 3.

4. Serve with chunk of toasted bread with butter (margarine).

*Also spelled Yerba Buena. This can refer to several kinds of spices in the mint/coriander family-I went to our international market and couldn’t find any there. All over Latin America there are different members of the coriander family that are called hierba buena. I bought both Mexican dried spearmint and fresh cilantro. I added them to different batches and while close to the taste I know it must be another similar herb. The species most commonly found in Central America according to Wikipedia is known as Mentha Citrata and may go by Bergamot mint, Eau-de-cologne Mint, Horsemint, Lemon Mint, Lime Mint, Orange Mint,Pineapple Mint, Su Nanesi, Water Capitate Mint, Water Mint, Watermunt, Wild Water Mint

I’m disappointed that the soup didn’t come out the same but it was still really good. Very simple to make and very satisfying. Best part is that despite the bacon it’s incredibly nutritious food and tastes great. Black beans are a wonder food. Rich in protein, iron (15% in one serving), calcium (4%), fiber (60 %!!!!!), and no fat. I’ve been trying to add more beans to my diet. They’re cheap, nutritious, taste pretty good (once you know how to season them), and have lots of fiber. Below is what I calculated the nutritional content of the soup to be. Take it with a grain of salt since I’m not expert and went by package numbers and everything has been estimated. A bowl is about 2 cups and I’d say I have about 10 servings in my pot

I think next time I’ll had in some cumin and maybe a little cinnamon. If you have any suggestions feel free to leave them in the comments section for me and for others. Any of you folks in Guatemala, if you can tell me exactly the name of the spice that…would…be….awesome. Post it here and I’ll give it a go on if I can find it her.

Remember November 11-13 is the medical missions conference down in Louisville, KY. I’ll be there all three days; hopefully I’ll see you there. I’ll be taking my resumes with me and maybe I’ll get a lead for job or maybe even an interview (it would be great to be able to do an interview there, instead of maybe flying to Texas or driving to Nashville). Looks like my cousins Charleston, Max, and my Tio Tomas will be going down for a day. Charleston is thinking of studying to be a doctor after high school so I encouraged him to come down. I’m really excited that they’re going to be able to come down. I’m hoping to maybe see some folks from work there as well. Whenever there’s a convention like this big decisions get made. Regular people doing really great things. I’m so excited my toes are all tingly. 

Have a great week.

Jason