Country-style great northern beans and ham soup
This bean and ham soup is very satisfying when served on a cold day. It's quite delicious and will make eight to ten servings of soup. Leftovers can be placed into an airtight container and stored conveniently inside your freezer.
Ingredients:
1-16-ounce package of great northern dried beans
About 2-3 cups of ham, depending on what you prefer (I used end pieces from ham leftovers.)
1-½ teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of seasoning salt
1 teaspoon of onion flakes
2 cubes of chicken bouillon
6 quarts of cold water
1 can of cream of celery soup, or cream of mushroom soup
Instructions:
First, wash and rinse the great northern beans. (Pick out any debris.)
Chop the ham if you prefer smaller bite-sized pieces of meat in your soup. (I left mine in bigger chunks. I also leave the fat on the meat to add extra flavor. You can trim it off if you prefer.)
Add the cold water, onion flakes, freshly ground black pepper, seasoning salt, and chicken bouillon cubes.
Allow the water to come to a rapid boil over high temperature, then lower the heat to medium-low. Cover and cook your beans at medium-low. Simmer the beans for about eight hours, stirring occasionally. Add any additional water when needed. (The beans should stay covered with two inches of water at all times while they're simmering.)
During the last hour of cooking, add the cream of celery soup, or cream of mushroom soup and the pieces of ham; stir. Then finish cooking.
Serve your bean and ham soup with cornbread. Enjoy!