Shelley's Red Beans & Rice

I've been trying to make this New Orleans meal as good as it can be and I finally got it right!

Red Beans & Rice

1 lb red kidney beans, everyone here swears by Camellia

8-10 C water

1 celery stalk

1 small-medium yellow onion

1 small green pepper

2 cloves garlic

1 bay leaf

2 ham hocks

1 tsp Cajun seasoning (I used "slap ya mama," but Tony Chachere's is easier to find)

Soak beans overnight or prep them using the quicker route which is described on the back of most bean packages. Dice all vegetables and saute in as much butter as is necessary to moisten the pan. Combine all ingredients in a large pot and boil gently, stirring occasionally for about 1 1/2 hours or until tender. Remove the ham hocks from the pot, remove the meat from the ham hocks and shred it. Before adding the ham back into the pot, I like to puree about half of the bean mixture to make the dish a nice texture. Once the beans are ready, add the ham back to the meal and serve over brown rice.

As an alternative, you can leave the ingredients in the crock pot all day, but you will still have to put it in a pot later to boil off some of the water. I wonder if you could just add less water in the crock pot to begin with, but I've never tried it.