I made some Ham and Bean soup this weekend that ended up being extraordinarily good.
It does look a little odd. I love black beans which of course makes the soup very dark.
Easy to make. Get a back of whatever dried beans you want. Put them in a large pot and then put in enough water to be about 2-3 inches over the beans. Add a little sea salt and then bring the beans to a boil. As soon as they are boiling drop the heat down to medium low and add a cup and a half of chopped onions, a cup of chopped or shredded carrots, 2 chopped celery stalks and a small can of diced tomatoes. Add 2 heavily smoked ham shanks in there and add more water until the ham shanks are covered.
Bring it back to a boil and then lower the heat to medium low again and let it cook for about 3-4 hours. Take the ham shanks out and get all the meat off the bones, chop it up and add it back to the soup. Also add about 2 cups of V8 with black pepper juice.
If the shanks do not have a lot of meat then it would be good to chop up some other ham meat and add it. Then bring it back to a boil again then lower the heat so it is just slightly boiling and let it cook for about another 2 hours.
At that point it will be done and will be delicious.
