Dine and Dish

Food blog with family recipes

A Culinary Experience and Bush’s Beans Giveaway (Recipe: Creamy Black Bean & Bacon Soup)

 

This giveaway is now closed. Random.org chose Richard (rtrblade@……). Congrats to Richard! Thanks to everyone for entering.

Sometimes I just want to pinch myself when I think about the opportunities that have been given to me simply by starting this blog four years ago. At the end of October I had the opportunity to travel to Napa Valley, CA with the most wonderful group of bloggers, chefs and Bush’s Beans folks. We stayed at the beautiful Meadowood Lodge, enjoyed meals at the delicious Farmstead Restaurant and the amazing Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant. We were wined and dined and treated wonderfully, but would you believe that the most amazing part of the experience was when we were put to work?

I’ve never been that jealous of people when they said they had the chance to cook at The Culinary Institute of America. Now I know that was because I had no idea what it really meant to cook at the CIA. Imagine a full kitchen, stocked with every possible pan, bowl, utensil you want and only the most state of the art equipment. Now, imagine that the kitchen is stocked with the freshest of ingredients right at your fingertips. Finally, picture being in this kitchen with some of the most well trained, talented chefs in America. Sounds a little like foodie heaven, doesn’t it? I can attest, it is. Cooking at the CIA was an experience of a lifetime and one that I would have never have had the chance to experience if it wasn’t for my blog and the people at Bush’s Beans.

 

As a part of our Culinary Experience we were given the chance to cook with and get to know some pretty cool chefs, all who had different styles and techniques but were all just as amazing.

  • Chef Andy Wild – Chef Andy allowed us to cook in his kitchen at the CIA, gave us amazing instruction and tips and was beyond generous with his space and knowledge. He is a busy, busy, busy man with a family and numerous chef related jobs outside of his job at the CIA.
  • Connie Guttersen – Connie is one of those warm, welcoming people who you feel you could sit down and have coffee with and chat for hours. Make sure to check out her book The Sonoma Diet, where she shares her philosophy that food can be healthy and taste great!
  • Chef Jeffrey Saad – Many of you may know Jeffrey from Season 5 of The Next Food Network Star. I think the best way to describe Jeffrey is passionate. He has a passion for food and cooking that is truly inspiring. Make sure to check out Jeffrey’s newest show, The United Tastes of America, which premiers on The Cooking Channel November 16th. (Oh – and his wife Nadia is one of the sweetest and supportive wives ever!)
  • Chef Michael Schulson – Michael is the executive chef and owner of the restaurants Izakaya and Sampan. Aside from being an amazing chef, I would say one of Michael’s strengths is efficiency in the kitchen. He shared several tips on ways to make life more streamlined in our own home kitchens.
  • Chef Daisy Martinez – A force to be reckoned with in the kitchen, Daisy is the mom of 4 kids, has a successful television show and has a new cookbook coming out, Daisy Morning, Noon and Night! With a specialty in Latin Cooking, Daisy taught us all the importance of spice and layers of flavor when cooking.

Although I would have loved to stay in Napa longer, I couldn’t wait to get home to cook in my own kitchen. I was inspired to use the tips, tricks and techniques we learned about at the CIA in my own kitchen. It was part of that inspiration that I used to adapt this recipe for Creamy Black Bean Soup from Southern Living. This was one of the most delicious black bean soup recipes I’ve ever tasted. I hope you’ll give it a try!

 

And, to cook up some Bush’s Beans inspiration in your own kitchen, my friends at Bush’s Beans are offering you a great prize pack which will include:
· Bush’s Beans items: apron, coupons, bean strainer and mints, recipe bookmark
· Spices/ingredients:: Tahini paste, cumin, smoked paprika
· Culinary Institute of America/Napa items: Spoon rest, dish towel, Olive Press citrus olive oil

To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post with a link to your favorite Bean recipe! That’s it. Easy peasy. All entries must be turned in by midnight on Sunday, November 14th.

To read about the Bush’s Beans Culinary adventure with other food blogging friends, click on over to these blogs: Aggie’s Kitchen, In Mommy’s Kitchen, She Wears Many Hats, The Reluctant Entertainer, Good Life Eats, Tidy Mom, Real Mom Kitchen

 

Recipe: Creamy Black Bean and Bacon Soup adapted from Southern Living Magazine

Yield: 6 cups

 

  • 5 slices cottage style bacon
  • 1 cup medium onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 32oz box Swanson’s chicken broth
  • 4 (15-oz.) cans BUSH’S Black Beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 (14.5-oz.) can diced tomatoes with zesty mild green chiles, undrained
  • 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 2 cups sweet corn
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • Cook bacon in a large Dutch oven until crisp. Remove bacon, cut into bite size pieces and set aside.
  • Sauté onion and garlic in bacon grease oven over medium-high heat 4 to 6 minutes or until tender. Stir in broth and next 4 ingredients, stirring to loosen particles from bottom of Dutch oven; cover and bring to a boil. Uncover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 8 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cilantro and lime juice. Let cool 5 minutes.
  • Process 1/2 of the batch of soup in a large food processor until smooth. Return to the Dutch oven, and stir in corn and bacon pieces. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occassionaly. Add the 2 cups of heavy whipping cream and heat through, approximately 5 minutes (but do not boil). Remove from heat and serve.

 
Disclaimer: Bush’s Beans provided food, travel, and lodging expenses for my trip to Napa as well as an overall amazing experience. They are also providing the prize pack giveaway for the readers of Dine & Dish. The opinions expressed in this post are my own.

CIA cooking photos courtesy of professional photographer, Faith Ectermeyer.


Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  6. Merry Lu says

    Oh, dear! You mean we’re supposed to have a recipe for beans? I tend to use the “whatever sounds good at the time” method. Which always works really good for me. However, I did find this one a few weeks ago when looking for a recipe to help out a friend, and I think it sounds absolutely yummy. It gets extra points for having “Cowboy” in the name. I’m hoping to try it next week. http://southernfood.about.com/od/crockpotbeans/r/bl26c2.htm

  7. Merry Lu says

    P.S. I can’t wait to try out your Black Bean and Bacon Soup recipe, too, Kristen. Bean soup is just about my most favorite food ever. ♥

  9. Lauren B. says

    Your trip looked like so much fun! What an amazing opportunity! My favorite recipe that my entire family devours is my White Chicken Chili {http://bit.ly/9RyKhl}.

  15. SMITH BITES says

    I want to go to Napa and cook at the CIA!!!! (in my best wailing voice!) Am so happy you guys got to have this awesome experience and now share it with us! My favorite black bean recipe is one I haven’t posted but found several years back which includes a slow cooker, black beans, pork shoulder and a bottle of beer – makes my mouth water just thinking about it!

  18. Nikki says

    I love hummus, refried beans, black bean soup, black bean salad, chili, etc. I love cooking with beans!

  24. jenifer says

    Hi! What a fun post!

    This is, by far, my favorite recipe… and EVERY SINGLE TIME I take this to a party or potluck people stalk me asking for the recipe! 🙂 Miam, miam, mmmm! I make little modifications such as adding the juice of one lime and including one Tbsp of olive oil for some help binding it together. I add in some fresh made salsa on the top as a garnish, too! Also, the canned stuff makes everything so fast and easy — but if you can take the time to dice fresh chile peppers, this recipe will make your tastebuds SING! 🙂

    http://www.food.com/recipe/coyote-caviar-27862

  27. Sues says

    Awww this looks awesome and like a dream come true! Isn’t it crazy how many opportunities come from blogging that you never could have dreamed about before starting?? Yay blogging!

  30. Alison Moore Smith says

    Oh, I’m in luck! I had scheduled a fabulous, simple, inexpensive, healthy, yummy, vegan chili recipe to post tomorrow morning. So I’ll just bump it a few hours. 🙂

    Your recipe looks great, too. We love black beans. Well, we love beans, period. We eat pounds and pounds of beans every week. Great on salad, in soup. I even have a luscious, vegetarian spinach bean lasagna recipe. (No, we aren’t vegetarians or vegans, but we eat that way frequently.) I’ll have to post that one day soon.

  35. Holly says

    Who needs a recipe?! I heat and eat! Especially with the Grilling Beans, all the work is already done! 🙂

  45. the urban baker says

    wow, Kristen, that weekend looks simply perfect. I love Napa, it is one of my favorite places and do plan on retiring there one day! I am so glad you had this experience. My littlest, loves black beans! You’ve inspired me!

  47. leslie says

    Looks like you had an amazing time! You lucky duck!
    My favorite bean recipe??? Hmmmm. My seasoned black beans that I serve with my roast pork!

  52. Pat Wogan says

    My new favorite bean recipe is exceptionally simple and simply delicious. Open a can or two of Bush’s Grillin’ Beans Santa Fe style, depending on the size of the crowd you are feeding. We had smoked a pork shoulder, and after the meat was done, and before the smoker cooled down, we put the beans in a shallow pan and set them in the smoker….DELICIOUS!

  55. Whitney Schmale says

    I’m like Harriet, don’t have a recipe. Dave calls my chili 7 bean chili. I adore kidney beans but also use pinto, chili beans, navy beans, black beans, and any other kind of bean I see that looks good!

  58. Daniel Keller says

    I live in the same county as Bush’s corporate HQ. I can smell them cooking when I am on that side of the lake. Love their products. Use the baked beans a lot.

  60. Samantha Aulick says

    I love Black Bean and Corn Salad. At my house, we add chunks of fresh avocado and red beans.

  78. Hellen says

    It has strong bass response, thus delivering what you desire.
    The main reason behind the delay in launching is i – OS5.
    Some regions in the UK market does seem capable of supporting this network requirement.

  79. Bree Recipe Ideas says

    What an interesting place, I would also really like to have such a kitchen, it’s just a dream when all the products and ingredients are at your fingertips and you don’t need to spend half a day looking for in stores. I think the blog gave you really wonderful opportunities, and readers have many delicious recipes)

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