Black Bean Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 c. dried black beans
ham bone with meat, or ham hock
2 medium onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
4 to 5 sprigs parsley
3 whole cloves
pinch of mace or allspice
pinch of thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. sherry
2 eggs, hard-cooked
lemon

Preparation

Soak beans overnight in enough cold water to cover beans. Drain.
Add 2 quarts of water, ham bone, onions, carrots, celery, parsley, cloves, mace, thyme, bay leaves, dry mustard and Worcestershire sauce.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and simmer gently for 2 to 3 hours or until beans are very tender. Remove ham and bone, cutting any meat into small pieces.
Work soup through a sieve or blend in an electric blender.
Add diced ham and sherry and season to taste.
If soup is too thick (it should look like heavy cream), stir in a little water.
Reheat and serve with sliced hard-cooked eggs and thin lemon slices on top. Serves 6.