Dried Butter Bean Soup

If you are NOT from the south, you may call this Lima Bean Soup. It is still a delicious, filling soup. You can also add bacon, ham, or brown and serve sausage on top to garnish if your not looking to do vegetarian.

1 cup dried small butter beans
¼  cup unsalted butter, vegetable oil
1 onion, small diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 carrot. small diced
1 celery rib, small diced
5 cups vegetable stock
1 can (1 pound) plum tomatoes with juice
1 teaspoon summer savory, dried
1 teaspoon thyme, dried
1 teaspoon sugar
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

Sort through the beans, discarding any rocks, dirt or discolored beans. Put the beans in a bowl, add cold water to cover and leave to sock for about 12 hours. In a deep, 10" or regular 12" Dutch oven, over 14 charcoals; melt butter. Add onions, garlic, carrot and celery and sauté until onions are translucent, 2-3 minuets. Drain the beans and add to the Dutch oven along with the stock, tomatoes, savory, thyme, sugar, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally to break up the tomatoes, until the beans are very tender, 2- 2½ hours .* Remove and discard bay leaf. ** Transfer about one half of the soup to a food mill or blinder. Purée, covering blinder with a heavy towel to avoid splattering. Stir the purée back into the Dutch oven, then season with salt and pepper. Ladle into worm bowls and garnish with parsley.
* you may put 2 or 3 charcoals on top, just to keep the Winters cold off.
**After 45 minuets, start a new set of charcoals. After 1 hour, remove all old charcoals and ash and replace with the new ones.