Saute ham, carrots and onion in butter over med heat for 8-10 mins. Add remaining ingredients.

Simmer for 1 hour.The lentils will be cooked by then. Now remove a cup soup from the pot..make sure there are mostly lentils in the cup. Using a potato masher, mash up the lentils and vegs in the soup pot really well....oh! take the bay leaf Out of the pot before the mashing begins. The soup will thicken nicely. Pour back the cup of lentils and soup. Add 1Tbsp. Red wine vinegar and 2Tbsp. Butter to the pot, and whisk. Serve hot with some good crusty french stick. If anyone would like the Curried Lentil Soup with Ham recipe, I'd be happy to post it. It is excellent as well.

Pierre Franey has passed away. He died of heart failure whilst sailing on the Qeii, yesterday. Pierre Franey was the executive chef of the famous LePavillion restaurant, and the equally famous La Cote Basque, in Nyc.He created the "60 Minute Gourmet"column in the New York Times in 1976. He has written many books <i think 15> on cooking and his travels. I was planning to post my left over ham solution...which happens to be a variation of Franey's lentil soup he prepared during the research and writing of his 12th book: Cooking in France. The recipe contained in the book is Curried Lentil Soup with Ham. The variation was prepared by him in Provence, on his Tv tour. I furiously scribbled it down as he was preparing it. I'm glad I did, as I haven't seen it published in any of his books. Here it is: