New Year’s Bean Soup

It doesn’t really have to be the beginning of a new year to make this delicious soup but it seems like every year around this time I make some New Year’s Bean Soup.  I call it that because it’s right around then I see that ham bone from Christmas in the freezer.  Here’s my recipe (outta my head).

What you will need:

• A large crock pot
• A ham bone with chucks of ham
• 1 bag of beans (navy or great northern … I prefer great northern because they are tastier)
• 8 cups of chicken stock (you can make a broth with bullion if you prefer)
• 1 1/2 carrot, chopped
• 3 green onions or 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1 large stick of celery (or celery seeds)
• 4 slices of bacon
  
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup of flour
  

This is a soup that cooks all day so begin early in the morning. Put the ham bone and the beans in the crock pot.  NOTE: You did not have to soak those beans all night since you will be cooking them all day. Add 6 cups of the chicken stock and reserve 2 cups for later.  Turn the crock on high and put the cover on.

Chop up your bacon and fry it up in a pan until it is crispy.  Remove the meat and put it into the crock pot with the beans and broth and bone.  DO NOT DRAIN THE BACON FAT  FROM PAN.  Chop up the onions, carrots and celery and put them in the fry pan with the bacon fat.  Add salt and pepper and saute until the onions are transparent but not brown.  Put the cooked veggies AND THE BACON FAT into the crock with the rest of the stuff.  Add a little more salt and pepper.  Cook the soup all day, checking and stirring it periodically. You can turn the crock heat down once the beans are soft.

About an hour before you are ready to serve the soup, remove the bone from the crock.  Let it cool and then pick off any meat that you want to add back into the soup.  Take that 2 cups of reserved broth and pour one cup into the soup.  Add flour to the other cup until it is the consistency of a cake batter (probably approx. 1/4 cup).  Stir it until it is smooth.  Put the crock back on high heat and add the flour mixture to the soup.  Stir it well and let it cook until supper time.

I served my soup with fresh baked yeast rolls, but it is also very delicious with soda crackers or my CHEDDAR BREAD.  A small salad or a sandwich is yummy too … but this is a hearty soup, so you may not need it!

Enjoy!