Ham and White Bean Soup

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This has to be one of my favorite soups.  Mom used to make it almost once a week it seemed.  Maybe because we always had fresh ham, or the fact that we always ate a lot of beans.  So she would whip this quick and easy soup up with some green onions on the side and we usually had a yellow cornbread along with it.  Now yellow cornbread in our house was a sweet cornbread that was not the normal cornbread we would have.  Ours usually was white and came out of a cast iron skillet.  But for some reason, yellow cornbread was always on tap with our ham and bean soup.  I loved pouring a bit of maple syrup on my corn bread so it was almost like having desert with dinner.

Well when I got to work this morning, one of my coworkers and very special friend Leanne asked me if I could make some ham and bean soup tonight and bring in to work tomorrow.  Well, I have been hankering for some lately, so I took advantage of her request and made some tonight.  Of course I made enough for an army.  Almost quadrupling the recipe.  So once I filled up 8 quart containers for friends and co workers, I filled the big bowl that you see above and sat myself down to a bowl of memories.  This soup always takes me back to my childhood and my moms kitchen.  I hope you all enjoy this soup as much as I do.

Ingredients:

• 2 (15.5 ounce) cans great northern beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
• 1 smoked ham hoc or smoked neck bone
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 bay leaf

Mash one can of beans and set aside. In a large saucepan, sauté the carrots and onion in butter about 2 minutes till onions are translucent. Stir in the water, chicken stock, ham, hoc or neck bone, salt, pepper, garlic powder, bay leaf and the whole and mashed beans.

Cook over medium heat until heated through. Discard bay leaf before serving.