Back in Black

My muse had left me for a while and without proper inspiration I had nothing to post. Lot's of things have been going on, but I didn't have the magic to express it. We've been here in Lolo for the past month and unfortunately my new phone/air card don't work at the bottom of the valley where our cabin is located. My internet connection has been limited, but here's a quick run down on what I've been doing. I went with Ely to the River City Roots Festival. Here a few highlights from that experience:

Cash for Junkers opens the River City Roots Fest

Sculptor Sunti Pichetchaiyakul show cases his

lifelike art at the Roots Fest

What can I say? This girl

made me miss my friends.

Since the Roots Festival, I've been making my way around Missoula and Lolo. I've  found an excellent coffee place with bagels and lox. Kevin and I delivered a Schwalbe truck to Salt Lake City, Utah this last weekend. While in Lolo, we've been hiking in the Bitter Root, but what got me thinking about writing in my blog again was the tasty black bean soup I made for dinner last night.

I have been craving Cuban sandwiches and felt guilty about serving Kevin a sandwich for dinner, so I decided that soup and sandwiches were perfectly okay when the soup is homemade and not from a can.

I find it takes quite a bit longer to make things due to the altitude. What should have taken 2 hours took 3 and 1/2. I started with a package of bacon. (bacon makes everything better) Once the strips were crispy, I set the bacon aside and sautéed the carrots, onion, celery, garlic and jalapeno in the drippings, then I added dried thyme, oregano, cumin and a bay leaf. I cooked the veggies and herbs together for a bit before adding the chicken stock and tomato paste.

After bringing to a boil I let simmer. When the liquids got too low I added tap water, and some beer. Oh yeah and I also roasted a red bell pepper and added it to the simmering pot.

While the soup was on the stove I rubbed the pork loin with a Chulula spiced seasoning salt. I seared the loin in some of the bacon fat that I had preserved, then cooked it in the oven at 400 for 35 minutes. When it was done I let it rest before carving it into thin slices to serve on toasted sourdough hoaggie rolls with melted Fontina cheese, pickles and mustard.

To finish off the black beans I ran them through the blender, but left it lumpy not smooth. I added some sour cream and cilantro to the individual servings. It was so good I had to tell you guys about it.