Southern Creamy Butter Beans

Southern Creamy Butter Beans (Large Lima Beans) 1 pound bag of Camellia brand large lima beans Water to cover plus an inch 1 tablespoon of bacon fat, butter or vegetable oil 1/2 cup of chopped onion 1/2 cup of chopped celery 1/4 cup of chopped carrot 2 cloves of garlic, chopped 1 teaspoon of dried thyme 1/4 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper grinder 2 cups of leftover baked, smoked ham, roughly chopped Meaty ham bone, 2 or 3 ham hocks or smoked turkey wings 1 (32-ounce) carton of chicken stock 4-6 cups of water 2 bay leaves 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of butter, optional 2 tablespoons of dried parsley Pinch of Cajun seasoning (like Slap Ya Mama) Couple pinches of kosher salt, or to taste Rinse and sort beans, place into stockpot with just enough water to cover them, plus about an inch. Bring to a boil, cover and turn off the burner. Let soak covered for one hour, drain and set aside. Meanwhile, in the bottom of soup pot or Dutch oven, heat the bacon fat over medium; add the onion, celery, carrots, garlic and sauté just until tender. Add the thyme and pepper and stir; add the ham, ham bone, ham hocks or smoked turkey wings, chicken stock, 4 cups of the water and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and let simmer for about 1 hour. Add the drained beans to the pot. Stir in the butter, parsley, and a pinch of Cajun seasoning. Continue cooking on a low simmer an additional hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until beans are tender and sauce thickens. Add additional chicken stock or water only if needed. When beans are tender, taste and adjust seasonings as desired; cover and hold on very low. Serve over hot cooked rice with a side of cast iron skillet cornbread. Cook's Notes: May also simply soak beans in cool water overnight. Older beans take longer to cook so if your beans have been in the pantry for awhile, you may have to cook them longer. Fresh beans cook more quickly. You can substitute bacon if you don't have any leftover ham. Just chop up as much bacon as you want - about a half pound would be good - and saute that in a pan until browned, then toss in the chopped onion, celery, carrots, and garlic right there in with that bacon and bacon fat and cook until tender, adding olive oil only if needed to saute the veggies. Pick up the rest of the recipe from there. Crockpot: Rinse, drain and sort through beans. Add the unsoaked beans to a 4-quart or larger slow cooker. Saute veggies and meats and add with all of the remaining ingredients except butter, parsley, Cajun seasoning and rice. Cover the beans with 5 to 7 cups of very hot water, or use a combination of water and broth if desired - you’ll need more or less depending on whether you’ve soaked your beans and whether you are using a large ham bone. You want to cover the beans by about an inch or so. Cover and cook on high for 7 to 8 hours, 10 to 12 hours on low, or until the beans are tender. Before serving, stir in butter, parsley, Cajun seasoning and salt; taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Beans can be a fussy lot when it comes to being too thin or too thick. Sometimes you'll end up with too much water once they're ready, sometimes they can be far too thick like a stew. Remember to start with the stock and/or the minimum amount of water, adding any additional broth or water only as needed during the cooking process if the beans get too thick. Be sure to let the beans simmer on very low - just a bare bubble - and let them just slow stew, stew, stew! A low and slow simmer uncovered, and the occasional stir, helps to make beans nice and creamy. But, if in the end, the beans are ready, but the liquid is just not thick enough, then you have a couple of options on thickening that I use with all the beans I cook. Remove a cup or two of the beans, mash them up and then return them to the pot and stir in. You can also make a slurry of 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and about a cup or so of cool water, or some of the bean liquid. If you use the bean liquid, remove it first and set it aside to cool slightly. Whisk the cornstarch in so that it's smooth and has no lumps in it, and then stir it into the beans, allowing them to continue cooking for about 10 minutes longer. You can even use a combination of these methods.