Ham and Beans and More Recipe

Place the beans into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand 8 hours to overnight. Drain and rinse before using.

Combine the soaked beans 4 cups of water celery onion bay leaves cumin garlic powder and parsley into a slow cooker.

Melt the butter with the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir the leeks in the butter mixture until tender and the smaller pieces start to brown 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the leeks to the slow cooker. In the same pan cook and stir the ham until the edges start to brown; stir into the soup. Place the bacon into the hot skillet and pan-fry until the bacon is crisp about 10 minutes. Cut the bacon into bite-size pieces and stir into the soup. Pour the chicken stock into the hot skillet and stir to dissolve any brown flavor bits from the skillet; pour the chicken stock into the soup. Season with sea salt and pepper.

Set the cooker to Low cook the soup until the beans are very tender 6 to 8 hours. Roughly mash about half the beans with a potato masher to thicken the soup.