Cook Time: 4 hours
Ingredients:
- *** Stock ***
- 1 lg. smoked ham hock
- 1 lg. onion; quartered
- 1 lg. stalk celery; cut into 3-inch pieces
- 1 lg. carrot; cut into 3-inch pieces
- 2 bay leaves
- 20 whole pepper corns
- *** Soup ***
- 1/2 lb. navy beans; picked over
- 1 country ham steak; fat trimmed off
- 1/2 onion; coarsley chopped
- 1/2 sm. stalk celery; sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds
- 1 sm. carrot; sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds
- 2 Tbsp. bacon drippings (or olive oil)
- 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tsp. rubbed sage
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 qt. water; simmering
Preparation:
Stock:
1. Place ham hock, quartered onion, large pieces of carrot and celery, bay leaves and pepperecorns in a large soup pot.
2. Add 5 quarts cold water and set over medium heat. Bring to a vigorous simmer (do not boil), reduce heat to low and cover.
3. Cook for about three hours. Cool.
4. Pour stock through a strainer into a large bowl. Discard vegetables.
5. Cut up meat from ham hock into small pieces and add to stock.
6. Cover and cool to room temperature or overnight in refrigerator.
7. Divide and freeze half for later use.
Soup:
8. Heat oven to 300F.
9. Heat bacon drippings in an oven proof soup pot over medium heat.
10. Add onions, celery, and carrot and saute until onions are translucent.
11. Add beans to pot along with all remaining ingredients except water.
12. Place pot over medium heat and bring to a vigorous simmer (do not boil).
13. Cover and place on a lower, but not the lowest, oven rack. Cook for about 4 hours, checking every hour and adding enough additional hot water to keep beans well covered.
14. Remove from oven, adjust seasonings and amount of water. Serve with hot sauce on the side.
Note: This soup freezes well if you want to double it and freeze half.
