Ham Bean Soup

For the broth: In a large covered roaster, place bone and enough water to cover in a 375ºF oven for 2 hours. Remove all pieces from the broth-ham, bone and scraps. Discard bone and scraps, reserve any meat that could be used in soup for later.

Chop vegetables and add carrots, celery, onion, potatoes, beans, bay leaves, pepper, ham enhancer and brown sugar to broth. Add more water if needed to cover vegetables. Cover and bake at 350ºF for 1 hour.

Add ham, cut into bite size pieces, cover and bake 1 more hour at 300ºF.

Last, add cabbage, cover and bake 1 more hour at 300ºF, or until cabbage is crisp-tender and beans are softened. Remove bay leaves.

Enjoy!

Notes:
Use a good quality ham to get the most flavorful broth and soup. Depending upon your ham and your taste, add ham enhancer accordingly. The last soup I made, the ham was very flavorful; I had reserved some concentrated broth and forgot to pick up some more ham enhancer, and the soup was delicious.

Make extra broth by baking a ham bone after your Easter dinner with water. Then freeze the broth and ham pieces for a jump start on your soup at a later date. If you add the ham in the beginning with the vegetables, it tends to get a little soggy and mushy.