KIDNEY BEAN SOUP

Soak 300gm of kidney beans overnight in a bowl of water .
Next day drain .
Now place the beans in a large saucepan ( nor alternatively use your slow cooker ) with 1100ml of water .
Add 1 smoked ham hock .
6 whole peppercorns
6 whole cloves
1 onion , peeled and sliced .
Bring this to boiling point and then let simmer for 3 hours .
Then you remove the bone and meat .
Process the soup till pureed .
Add 1/4 cup of castor sugar
4 tbs of malt vinegar . ( more or less according to your guests taste )
 OPTIONAL...Remove the meat from the bone and stir through the soup .
Discard bone .
Serve with very hot toasted bread cubes ....
BREAD CUBES
Melt 2 tbs of butter / marg and 1 tbs of castor sugar in a skillet .
Remove the crusts from 4 slices of bread and cut into cubes .
Add the bread cubes to the pan and stir till lightly browned .