Pork and Beans

1. In a large bowl, cover the beans with 12 cups of cold water and set the beans to soak overnight.

NOTE: You must let these beans soak. Beans that are tough an hour into cooking, will not get less tough the longer you cook them. Beans absorb most of their moisture in the soaking process.

2. Come back the next day and drain the beans and then rinse them in a strainer really well until all of the dust and grit is gone and they look shiny and clean!

3. Pour them into a large pot and just cover them with water.

4. Bring them to a boil. A weird white foam will come to the top of the pot.

5. Skim the white foam off and discard it. This will take a few minutes of skimming.

6. When most of the foam has been removed, you can reduce the heat to low and simmer with the lid on for an hour. At the 40 minute point, start the next step.

7. When the beans have been cooking for 40 minutes, get out a large sauté pan. Heat the pan to high and add your ham hocks, searing them until they start to get browned on all sides and the fat starts to render, about 5-7 minutes.

8. Add the onions to the pan and toss them with the ham and rendered fat. Let them cook until the onions are softened and starting to get golden, about 5 minutes. Then add the 2 cups of water and use it to deglaze the pan. Add the fresh thyme and let everything simmer together on low heat so that the broth gets really flavorful.

9. After 1 hour check the beans to see if they are tender enough. If they are, drian the beans of their cooking liquid and then put the pot back on the stove. (If they are not, cook for another 10-15 minutes.)

10. Pull the ham hocks out of the saute pan and set aside.

11. Add the red wine vinegar to the broth in the saute pan and let the mixture simmer while you process the ham.

12. For the ham hocks, use tongs (they will be hot!) and a knife, and cut the meat from the skin and bone. Chop the ham into bite sized pieces (mine yielded about 1 cup of meat) and discard the skin and fatty bits.

13. Add the bones and ham chunks back to the broth, and then add the entire contents of the pan into the drained beans.

14. Over low heat with the lid on, let everything simmer together for about 10-15 minutes while the flavors are absorbed into the beans.

15. Now is the time to check seasoning. Salt, black pepper, and a little more acid (red wine vinegar). See how they taste!

16. Dish up a big bowl, and maybe drizzle a little olive oil over it for good measure. Enjoy!