MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06
 
      Title: Bean and Bacon Soup Ala' Steve
 Categories: Beans, Soups, Bacon, Ham, Smoked
      Yield: 20 Servings
 
      1 lb Dried beans, scarlet runner
           -or great northern
    1/2 lb Bacon (ends & pieces);
           -chopped fine
      4 md Onions; chopped
      4    Celery ribs; chopped
      4 lg Carrots; peeled, diced
      1 lb Plum tomatoes; diced
      1 ga Water or stock
      1    Smoked ham hock
      1    Bay leaf
      1 ts Thyme
           Salt and pepper
 
  Check the beans for stones.  Pour boiling water over beans and let
  stand 1 hour or soak overnight and drain.  Scarlet Runner beans
  were chosen for this recipe because they cook up nice and big and
  meaty, but any dried beans will do, with Great Northern beans
  being the most popular. Be sure to use soft water or the beans
  will be tough.
  
  Finely chop the bacon ends and pieces, or fat saved from a smoked
  ham, and cook it on a medium fire in a big pot to render the fat.
  Be sure the crumbs of fat are nicely browned, like crisp bacon.
  
  Add the cut up veggies (you can change the amounts to suit
  yourself, and add others too,  ad lib) and saute' in the fat.  Add
  a few cloves of mashed garlic if you like it.
  
  Drain the beans and rinse them. Add the water or stock, beans and
  ham hock and herbs and spices.
  
  Bring to the boil, simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, maybe even more
  depending on beans, until they are very tender.  New crop, (this
  years) beans will get tender faster and taste best.  Cut the fat
  and skin from the ham hock and dice it and return to the soup.  I
  often cook a couple of extra ones and have beans and hocks as a
  meal. Season with salt and pepper.
  
  You can skim the fat, but in the cold winter, it tastes good.  The
  colder it is, the better you will like fatty soups.  If you cook
  it long enough, the beans and everything will bread down and
  puree, combining with the fat to make a "creamy" consistency, that
  is much admired by "BEANIES".
  
  You can finish the soup with sliced Kielbasa, but that is gilding
  the lily. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley, if desired.
  
  Recipe by Steve's Recipes (The Electronic Gourmet Guide)

  From: Calvin Hagan

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