This is always a favorite at The High Ceiling, a destination bar for Day Drunks and Lay Abouts, located 2 doors down and across the street from La Casa del Whacko in Beautiful Downtown Spring Tx, just across the sewage canal from the creosote plant...
Uncle Shorty's Bean Soup
Ingredients
Ham bone w/ 1-2 lbs meat*, 1 lb dry navy beans, 3/4 cup diced celery, 3 qts lo sodium chicken broth, 3/4 c diced carrots, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp black pepper,
1 c diced onion, 2Tbl bacon grease, 2 bay leaves
Directions
Rinse and pick the beans. Place the beans, 6 qts of water and 2 tsp baking soda in a large, heavy pot. Bring to a boil for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the beans soak, covered for four hours. Rinse the beans in clear, cool water and refrigerate. (This is the Hot Soak method.)
Heat the pot over medium-high heat. Put the bacon grease in the pot and allow it to come to temperature. Sauté the onions, celery and carrots until onions begin to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the beans, to the pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1-1/2 hours. Add the beans. Return to a simmer for 1/2 hour or until beans are tender to your liking.
Serve w/ baguettes, butter, green salad and a cold Premium American Lager.
* You can substitute 3 meaty ham hocks for the ham bone. After simmering the hocks remove the skin and bones before adding the meat back to the pot. Then proceed to add the beans and finish the soup.
Cuzzin Cletus says, "So good it'll make ya lay down and scream..."
