Brazilian Black Bean Soup

Brazilian Black Bean Soup rocks. I was a little hesitant to try it, as I am not a big fan of black beans. Additionally, the idea of putting orange juice into soup seemed a little obscure. But I was tempted by the awesome combination of other ingredients: onion, garlic (10 crushed cloves!), carrot, red bell pepper, garden fresh tomatoes, cumin, and cayenne.

While the black beans simmered, Charlie and I combined the onion, garlic, cumin, and a little salt on the stove.
Once the onions were translucent, we added more garlic (!) and red pepper. Everything softened and we stirred it all together in one big, red pot. I pureed half in the blender, recombined, and let the whole thing simmer for a while while we cleaned up.

I served the soup with sour cream. The soup was thick, almost like a chili, but sweeter (thanks to the OJ!) and spicier. It was a side dish to paella my friend made, and the two went together well!

Montana's Mom's Dynamite Cheesecake

I made Montana's Mom's Dynamite Cheesecake today, but it won't be consumed until Sunday. This'll give the cake plenty of time to set and me plenty of time to enjoy the sunshine outside!

I made the cheesecake in a 10" spring form pan. The crust is a simple graham cracker and melted butter concoction. The filling is cream cheese, eggs, white sugar, vanilla, fresh lemon juice, and lemon rind. It was a little lumpy, which worries me, but the scent of lemon and vanilla was pretty spectacular.

After baking this, I let the cake cool and spread on the topping: sour cream, vanilla, and sugar. Mmm! It's like a yogurt cup for grownups. Bake the cheesecake a little longer, then wrapped it up. It's in the refrigerator now... my mom is having a party on Sunday and will serve it then. Guess we'll have to wait until Sunday to see what the consensus is!