Slow-Cooker Black Bean Soup

Here is another one of my all-time favorites.  Some black bean soup.  It is warm, hearty and full of rich deep flavor.  I love how it has a nice strong smokiness to it from the ham bone.  You cannot get that from just using the ham alone.  The marrow of the bone has the most intense flavor inside of it, for which the entire soup is based off of.  And cannot be made without.

1 leftover ham bone and scraps (I froze mine from the spiral ham my Mom made for Christmas-defrost it if frozen)
4 cups of water
32oz. of chicken stock
1 medium yellow onion (diced)
1 cup of peeled baby carrots
3 stalks of celery (chopped)
5 cans of black beans (drained and divided)
1/2 tsp. of ground cumin powder
2 T. of cornstarch + 1/4 cup of water (for your thickening agent)
1 small red onion (diced-for garnish)
3 T. of sliced pickled jalapenos (minced-for garnish)
sour cream (for garnish)
salty tortilla chips (for garnish)

-In a large dutch oven or stockpot, bring the first six ingredients together in a boil.  Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 2 hours.  Using a skimmer or ladle, remove the ham bone and scrap meat and place in a large bowl to cool and then the carrots (that's why we left them whole-to remove easily) to a small bowl.  Place the carrots (and whatever little bit of celery and onion that comes with them) and two cans of the drained black beans into your blender (like me) or your food processor (like I wish I had); puree well.  Then just pour this right back into your pot, add in the remaining two cans of drained black beans, cumin powder and bring it all to a nice boil.  In a small measuring cup, stir together the cornstarch and the 1/4 cup of water (this is a cornstarch 'slurry' that will tighten and thicken up your soup to give it more body), pour it into the boiling soup and stir it in well.  Reduce the heat to a simmer.  Now you can serve it at this time, or if you are like me and prefer to do your cooking early in the day, you can transfer it to your slow-cooker set to go Low and slow all day.  Serve it with a pinch of diced red onion, a sprinkle of minced jalapenos, a dollop of sour cream and a couple of tortilla chips right on top.  Serves 6.  Enjoy!