my southern Beans (with apologies to Bearfan for the copycat)

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I love bean, red, pink, black, pinto whatever. Grammy used to make the best Pinto beans and I still make them today

the night before, take 2 cups beans and soak them in 6 cups water

the next morning drain and rinse them and put them in the crock pot or a big pot (discard any "floaters"



grab some pork. Ham hock, pork butt, sausage or even chicken works (but not as well)

I chose a ham steak



you'll need some celery, carrots and onion



i like to grate the carrots with my Mouli grater (but minced works too)



and don't forget the garlic



chop it all up and throw it in the pot




chop the ham into bite size pieces and fry it up to reduce the water and till it's browned





now to make it taste good, add some stock (I used my turkey stock from Christmas) but you can use canned broth or bullion. Use the broth to "wash" the fry pan and get all the ham taste out



and some spice (I like a pinch of cumin, but you don't have to) the bay leaf is very important, the rest are your choice



if it's going in the crock pot add enough water to cover everything, if you're doing it on the stove add enough to cover plus two inches



in the crock pot cook on High for about 4 hours, on the stove top simmer about 2 hours. You'll know the beans are done when you blow on them and the "skin" on the bean splits

serve over rice with cornbread on the side. the next day serve the mixed rice and beans over leftover cornbread

Kentucky cooking YUM!