Sopa Tarasco Estilo Patzcuaro submitted by Steve

Soup from Patzcuaro, the heart of Tarascan Indian Country. Patzcuaro is in the mountains between Guadalajara and Mexico City.

For the Soup...
12 ounces of dried pinto beans, soaked overnight in enough water to cover (about 3 quarts)
1.5 white onions, quartered, plus an additional medium white onion.
8 whole cloves of garlic
3 small roasted tomatoes (hold them on a fork, over a flame [OK, over a hot burner if you're all-electric, ...but it won't be like the Tarascans!] After heating the skin blisters and can be peeled.
1 chile ancho*. Heat the proverbial "little bit of oil" in a frying pan, or a borrowed comal if your next door neighbor is Tarascan, and roast the chile until the skin puckers, then put it into a plastic bag to sIt for five minutes. Peel it under cold running water Do not put your fingers in your eyes! Isn't this fun?
4 tablespoons of lard! (I'd skip this part.)
2 slices of white onion
1.25 quarts of chicken broth **

Garnish
1.5 cups of creme fraiche, or - if you're fraiche out, use sour cream. Who's gonna know?
6 tablespoons of half-and-half
2 cups of ricotta, cubed
16 tortillas (corn, please), sliced into 1" strips and crisp fried in the now famous "little oil"
4 chiles pasillas or anchos,... yes "fried in a little oil!"
1 chile chipotle from the can. What about the rest? Save them for chicken soup.
1 avocado, sliced into strips? Cubed? Be creative.

Cooking...
Cook the beans in the water in which they soaked, with a quartered onion, 4 garlic cloves, and salt, in a crock pot for 1.5 hours +, until they are tender. Salt to taste. Remove the beans from heat, and cool them. Put the beans and their liquid into a blender or food processor and puree. Strain through a sieve twice. Set aside.
Blend onion, 4 garlic cloves, tomatoes, and chile in the food processor. Heat lard and fry the onion slices until brown. Remove onion and pour tomato mixture in pan. Cook over low heat until the mixture thickens, about 20 minutes. Add bean purée and simmer until the ingredients thicken. Add chicken broth and salt to taste. Stir and heat through.
Before serving, mix creme fraiche and half-and-half. Ladle hot soup from a clay tureen. Serve garnish in individual bowls, allowing diners to add cream, cheese, tortillas, chiles, and avocado to taste. Makes 8 servings.
* The chile ancho ( aka chile poblano ) is the kind used for chile relleno. It's the general size of a green bell pepper, but more slender and pointed; their flavor is mild.
** There's a fancy way to make this of course, but why not just pretend that Swanson's is owned by Tarascans and is VERY authentic?