Black Beans - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, minced
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb black beans, rinsed
12 cups water
1 large smoked ham hock, rinsed (any pork or ham bone works fine)
2 bay leaves
1 cup chopped parsley (, or cilantro)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
ground black pepper
1 lb left over smoked ham (optional) or 1 lb left over smoked pork, diced (optional)
6 cups cooked white rice

Preparation

Over medium heat, In a heavy kettle or dutch oven, saute onions in oil till soft and transparent.
Add garlic and saute till fragrant and lightly browned.
Add more oil as necessary.
Add water, beans, ham hock (or bone) bay leaves, parsley, salt and cumin.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Skim surface as required.
Reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered for about two hours, or until several beans test tender (add more water if cooking liquid reduces to level of beans).
Remove ham hock from beans.
If beans are still watery you can continue to simmer or use an immersion blender or the back of a large spoon to puree some of the beans.
Dice optional meat and put into beans.
(If using country ham leave salt out of beans) Adjust seasoning.
Prepare rice as directed.
When cool enough to handle, remove ham from hock, discard bone and skin, and cut meat into bite-size pieces; set aside.
Serve beans over rice with a couple chunks of the hock meat on top.
Garnish with more chopped parsley.
Note, I have cilantro as an option as it does have a very strong, distinct, taste that some people do not like.