Green Baby Lima Beans - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 lb dried green baby lima beans
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 cup celery & leaves, minced
1 cup green bell pepper, chopped
3 -4 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
8 cups cold water
1/2 lb ham, chunks small dice (tasso, ham bone, ham hocks are good too)
1/2 lb smoked sausage or 1/2 lb andouille sausage, sliced 1/4-inch thick
pepper
salt

Preparation

Pour the beans into a non-reactive bowl. Sort through and remove any debris such as rocks, dirt and imperfect beans. Add enough lukewarm water to completely cover the beans. At room temperature, soak the beans for about 4-6 hours. Drain beans, discarding water, then give one more rinse.
Place the beans into a 5-6 quart Dutch oven. Add remaining ingredients, exluding the salt. (Sauting the veggies isn't necessary and adding salt at the beginning may toughen the beans.).
Bring to a boil, cover then reduce heat and simmer for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally, monitoring water level and adding more as needed. After an hour, add salt to taste and continue to simmer, covered, until beans are very tender and liquid creamy, approximately an additional 3/4 hour. Note: When nearly finished, press beans several times with the back of a large spoon against side of Dutch oven to encourage thickening of the sauce.
Serve over fluffy white rice. Freezes well.