Thank you Ron, for inspiring me to post a very similar soup however, with its authentic nuances ..  

The 2 / 2010 recipe of Ron´s called:  Portuguese Bean Soup, is not very different, from The Caldo Gallego, which  is a Galician Winter Soup, and also quite popular in Northern  Portugal ..  There are a couple of substitutes necessary as you can see from recipe .. However, it is impressive to see that you and your friend were not far from the right track !!! 

Here is the authentic recipe from the Galician Ministry of Tourism in Santiago de Compostela:

4 People :

100 Grams of  White Beans ( alubias blancas = Northern or Navy Beans )

1 Porc Hock or Ham Hock  

1 Beef Hock or Veal Bone

1 / 4 Kilo of a  Ropa Vieja type beef or veal that shreds ( Morcillo in Spanish )

2 large potatoes

300 grams of Indigenious  Grelos ( similar to Swiss Chard or Kale )

CAUTIONS WITH SALT .. 

1)  Soak the beans overnight .. 

2)  Place 4 litros of wáter and simmer the porc bone or hock and the beef or veal hock for 1 hour and 15 minutes on a slow to  medium flame .. ( Reserve ) ..

3) Place the beans in a  separate stock pot and with cold wáter just covering the beans and slow simmer until  tender .. approx. 1 hour and a half ..  

4)  Now peel the potatoes and dice in small to médium dice sized chunks ..  Boil in another pot along with the Grelos or the Swiss Chard or the Kale ..  

5)  Cook for 20 to 25 minutes until the leaves are tender ..  

6)  Now,  strain the the greens and potatoes and add them to the meat bone mixture ..

7)  Simmer another few minutes and season carefully with salt and pepper and 1 tiny red dried guindilla cayenne chili pepper .. or red pepper flakes etc. to your liking ..

8) Take the meat off the bones and  re - add to the pot .. 

9) Serve in cazuelas or clay earthenware bowls of choice  .. 

Remember this is a peasant dish and thus, some fresh parsley or other Mediterranean herbs work well.