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1. Add beans to colander. Rinse in cold water and sort out irregular beans.
2. Drain and add beans to Dutch oven. Stir in 6 cups water.
3. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer 2 minutes.
4. Remove from heat. Cover Dutch oven and let stand 1 hour.
5. Drain off excess water from beans.
6. Stir in 8 cups cold water to beans in Dutch oven.
7. Add ham shank, chopped onions, chopped fresh parsley, salt, dried basil, pepper, nutmeg, oregano, minced garlic, and bay leaf to soup.
8. Bring to a gentle boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to low.
9. Simmer 90 minutes or until beans are tender.
10. Remove ham shank from soup. Trim meat from bone. Cut into bite size pieces.
11. Return meat to soup. Discard ham bone.
12. Stir in sliced carrots, chopped celery, and instant mashed potato flakes.
13. Simmer 20 minutes. Remove bay leaf. |
