Cabbage bean potato ham soup

Thought I would put my newest recipe I made up here today. This was made over the course of a few days. The broth was slow simmered first, then refrigerated then made into soup. It takes a while to make, but it really is simple, most of the "while" is cooking/simmering. This is also a HUGE recipe. Made in a large stockpot. Think of your average "dutch oven" and multiply it by two or three. This is a rough recipe, as I tend to do everything by taste, smell and look. I rarely measure so most amounts will be guestimates, and feel free to change them. A big plus for this recipe is we are making a bone broth. Though, I will probably blog about this again later. Here are few links on the health benefits of bone broths: Top 5 reasons, Dr Auer, health benefits.

Ingredients 

Ham broth:

• 2 ham bones (with some meat left one them, i use leftover ones, if you have one from a joint, even better!) Ham chunked (if there is not enough on the bones to have sufficient amount in the soup)
• 1 tsp thyme, more or less to taste/smell for all herbs/spices
• 4-5 whole cloves of garlic
• 1 large onion, large chunks. about a rough cup and a half
• 2 bay leaves (if you have them) remove after broth is done
• 1 stem or two of rosemary, remove after broth is done unless ground or chopped VERY fine or FRESH
• 1 cube or two of chicken bouillon (if necessary, some bones are more flavorful than others)
• salt (if necessary, i usually find that ham is salty enough as it is) 

Fill the pot about half way or or so making sure all the ingredients are covered. Throw everything in the pot as it's ready. If you don't have an herb, it will be fine. In my opinion, the thyme and garlic are the two most important. Put on high until it starts to simmer, then turn down till it stays at a low simmer or just below simmer. Stir as needed. Let cook for several hours until the meat falls off the bone and fat and cartilage are cooked down. The longer you cook, the more nutritious it is (see the bone broth links).

I cooked mine for 2 days on low on the back burner, was easy, just stir occasionally.  When the whole garlic cloves cooked, I just mashed them with the back of my spoon against the side of the cooking pot and stirred it back into the soup. Strain if wanted, I just used a slotted spoon to scooped out the solids. I then pulled out the bones and pulled apart the meat. Finally, I put it back in the broth

Soup:

one large onion chopped coarsely
1 lb? potatoes, cubed, dice sized or a little smaller (peeled or not is your choice)
beans, I used 4 normal sized cans, if you used dried, make sure they are well soaked and add first and probably about an hour early to the broth, almost any bean will do
1 head of cabbage about half inch pieces

herbs: (optional) all to taste
some more thyme
marjoram (adds some brightness)
some more garlic
small amount of cumin
cilantro

(cumin and cilantro go well with black beans if you want a more Latin flavor)

Add onions, garlic and potatoes, cook till the onions are starting to become translucent, add beans. Cook for another 10 minutes, chop and add the cabbage and any more herbs and optional add-ins(see below). Cook for about 20 minutes, taste, add any more herbs and seasonings now. Cook for a few more minutes, until the cabbage is soft and faded, but still retains texture.  Overcooking will not destroy your soup, but it just won't be as tasty, besides, who likes slippery cabbage?


other optional add ins:
carrot or squash baby food: almost no flavor but adds some nutrients, I try to be creative about how to get extra veggies into my kids/husband
one can reduced sodium cream of mushroom soup
one large can of mushrooms
about .5-1 cup of whole milk

The mushrooms are just because we like mushrooms. The goats milk and soup were just to add some depth and richness to the broth. Keep in mind I made well over two gallons of soup, so this was very thinned out.