Stormy Day Bean Soup

This is a good way to use ham, chicken or turkey and make your own stock at the same time!

Things you need:

CrockPot (the best thing on earth if you don't have the back of the woodstove to use) if you have neither you can still use a stock pot on very low heat on the stovetop.

• Chicken/turkey carcass or ham bone

• 1# Dried Beans (you can get an assortment in a bag or you can mix up your own) I use: Split Pea, Lentils, Navy, Soldier, Yellow Eye, Jacob's Cattle.
• 1 medium onion -chopped
  
• 1 carrot (optional) -chopped
  
• 2 cloves garlic -smashed
  
• Cayenne or Red Hot (to your taste)
• Kosher Salt (to taste - less or none if you are using ham)
  
• Leftover Meat (as much as you want, 2 cups is good)
• 1 can (with juice) diced tomatoes with juice
  
• 3-4 cups of stock (water works okay, just not as tasty)
  

Soak Beans (in water) or in stock overnight. If you are soaking in stock, then put in fridge. If this is a last minute idea, don't fret just parboil for 30 minutes. Soaking beans gives you more flavor than parboiling - my opinion.

Slowly boil off the meat from whichever you are using (Chicken/Turkey carcass or Ham bone)

Skim off the fat.

Slowly saute onion & garlic in 1/4 C of olive oil. Just when you are ready to take it out, add cayenne or red hot and salt. Give it a stir add the meat and stir again just enough to warm it up.

Pour "goodies" into the crockpot and set to LOW.
Cut up carrot and add to goodies.
Add stock and give it a stir.

This is something that you can season as you go along. BUT be careful with the hot stuff - it may surprise you (and not in a good way), after it has stewed for a while.

About an hour before it is done (this is why I use a carrot - as it gets tender you know when the soup is ready to eat), add the canned tomatoes. Some people have told me they have used canned basil tomatoes and tho I have not, I bet they are lovely!

I call this Stormy Day - because I always seem to make it when I am at home when the weather is bad - it isn't meant to be a "Rush Home from Work" recipe. I often make stock and freeze it to use later - I think I saw Emeril use ice cube trays for this once and I LOVE THAT idea! Hate throwing away stuff that we need for later...