Ham and Beans and More

Ingredients

• 5 slices bacon 
• 2  bay leaves 
• 1 tablespoon butter 
• 0.3 cup celery chopped
• 4 cups chicken stock see 
• 1 pound ham cooked cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 pound cannellini beans dried rinsed
• 1 teaspoon parsley dried
• 0.5 teaspoon garlic powder 
• 0.3 teaspoon ground cumin 
• 1 pinch ground pepper fresh black to taste
• 2  leeks cut in half lengthwise (bulb only)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1 pinch sea salt to taste
• 4 cups water 

Equipment

• frying pan
• potato masher
• slow cooker

Directions

1. Place the beans into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand 8 hours to overnight.
2. Drain and rinse before using.
3. Combine the soaked beans, 4 cups of water, celery, onion, bay leaves, cumin, garlic powder, and parsley into a slow cooker.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Place the bacon into the hot skillet, and pan-fry until the bacon is crisp, about 10 minutes.
7. Cut the bacon into bite-size pieces and stir into the soup.
8. 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.
9. 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.