• Place beans in a big bowl and cover them with water. Let them soak overnight.
• The next morning, place the beans, pork shank, bay leaves, peppercorns, oil and thyme in the crock pot.
• Add water and make sure it covers the beans.
• Add carrots, parsnip and the potato. Cover and cook until beans are tender, about 5 ½ hours on high, or 8-9 hours on low.
• Discard the bay leaves, the carrots, parsnip and the potato.
• Transfer the pork shank to a cutting board, let cool slightly, and shred the meat into bite size pieces, discarding skin, bones, and excess fat.
• Set aside.

The sauce:

• Separately, in a skillet, pour oil and saute the chopped carrots first for 1-2 minutes until they get softer. Add chopped onion and red pepper over the carrots and saute them as well.
• Add crushed garlic to the mixture and keep cooking on medium heat. Stir once in a while.
• Add dried tarragon, thyme, paprika, caraway seed powder, black pepper and taste for salt. (Note: Be careful with the salt, as the ham is probably over salted as well)
• Use a ladle to add some of the bean liquid to this sauce. Let the sauce simmer for about 5 minutes.
• Add the tomato sauce and stir to combine.
• If you want a thicker sauce on your beans, you can mash the root vegetables into a pure and add them to the beans, or use them separately for a quick winter salad.
• Add this sauce to the crock pot and also add the shredded meat.
• Finally, add the dried dill, stir and cover the crock pot. Let it simmer for another 30 minutes. Serve warm with fresh bread. A glass of white wine goes well too.
• Note: Increase the crockpot time if the beans are not cooked yet. Some beans are drier than others and they might require additional time. The beans should be soft and hold their shape.