This recipe is the epitome of home comfort food.  With a bit of cornbread and a tab of unsalted butter mix in my bowl, this is one of my favorite breakfasts. Although, most people will think of it as a dinner dish.

Ham Hook Kettle Bean Ingredients

• 1-pound pinto beans
• 1/2 large onion, minced, (about 3/4 cup)
• 3 celery stalks, diced (about 1 cup) (optional)
• 1 medium carrot, diced (about ½ cup)  (optional)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 large smoked ham hock
• 6 to 8 cups of chicken broth, vegetable broth, or water
• 2 teaspoon blended chili powder  (optional)
• 1 tablespoon ham base (optional)
• 1 cup chopped ham hock or 1 large whole ham hock
• Salt and pepper, to taste (optional)

Ham Hook Kettle Bean Directions

• Glean the beans removing any foreign items like stones, dirt clods, bits of leaves, twigs, etc.
• Wash the beans in cool water by covering the beans with water and stirring them. Then carefully dump off the water letting any small bit’s flow away with the water. This process should be repeated until the water remains clear and clean.
• Cook’s Note: I usually wash my beans in the slow cooker pot to save on dishes.
• Add the beans, onions, celery, carrots, garlic, bay leaf, blended chili powder, hame base, and ham hock to the empty slow cooker.
• Fill the slow cooker with 6 to 8 cups of chicken broth, vegetable broth or water, but no more than a ½ inch from the top, so, it will not boil over.
• Cook’s Note: to expedite the cooking process, I usually heat the broth in the microwave a couple of cups at a time and poor the broth in the slow cooker.
• Cover and slow cook for 5 ½ -6½ hours on high, or 7 ½ -8½ hours on low until beans have softened and begin to fall apart.
• Cook’s Note: I usually put the beans on in the early evening on high, when retiring for the night, I turn the slow cooker down to low for the night; adding broth, if necessary to ensure the beans will not run dry during the night.
• Remove the bay leaf; also, remove the ham hock bone and skin from the slow cooker and strip off any meat. Chop any large pieces of meat, which you see and add back into the slow cooker.
• Salt and pepper, to taste if desired.