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| | Old Fashioned Ham Bean Soup
2 quarts of water
1 pound ( about 2 cups) of dried Great Northern or pea beans
3 tablespoons of butter
2 cups of finely chopped onion
1/2 cup of finely chopped celery
2 teaspoons of finely chopped garlic
three 10 ounce cans of condensed chicken broth
water
1 ham shank ( about 4 pounds) or 2 ham hocks (about 1 1/2 pounds)
one 16 ounce can of tomatoes or 4 to 6 medium sized firm ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
2 cups of shredded Cheddar cheese,(about 8 ounces)
Bring water to boiling in a 6 quart saucepot. Add beans gradually to water so that boiling continues. Boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside 1 hour.
Drain beans, reserving liquid. Return beans to saucepot along with 4 cups of cooking liquid.
Melt butter in a large skillet. Add onion, celery and garlic, cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn contents of skillet into saucepot.
Peel skin from ham shank and cut off excess fat. Add shank and skin to saucepot along with tomatoes, cloves, bay leaf, and pepper. Bring to boiling, reduce heat, and simmer 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until ham is tender.
Remove ham shank and skin; cool. Transfer soup to a large bowl; remove bay leaf and cloves. Cut meat into pieces and return to soup. Refrigerate, then skim off fat.
Transfer soup to saucepot and bring to simmer. Add cheese and stir until melted.
Note: Soup may be stored in the refrigerator and reheated, or cooled and poured into freezer containers and frozen. Thaw and reheat over low heat. About 4 quarts soup |
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