Excellent recipe. Hearty, comforting, and incredibly flavorful. I followed the recipe almost exactly, with the exception of adding 1-1/2 teaspoons of salt and a little pepper halfway through the cooking of the beans.

I added only one jalapeno, but the dish could easily have withstood more. I also agree with the recipe's author that cooking further than needed produces more flavor. I added one hour to bean cooking time: the final consistency of the dish was a thick creamy soup with lots of still-intact beans.

This is the kind of dish I would make for family at a holiday gathering.

Instead of ham hocks, I add a ham bone (saved and frozen from previous ham dinner) clean and wash beans and cook over very low heat over night. Next morning, you will have same results. Just add salt to your flavor. Have also done the ham hocks. Very good.

More time is needed for cooking the beans and Ham. Try adding a little Worcestershire sauce. This gives it the kick that it needs.

Simmering instead of boiling for a longer period of time enhances the flavor. Also mash about 3 tbsp. of the beans in a separate cup and then add back to the pot. This thickens your soup a great deal.

I grew up on this meal, and it is still one of my favorites. We pour it over cornbread and serve it with fried potatoes (thinly sliced with onions, fried in a skillet with oil).

I agree with Eric. I also grew up on this meal. The pan fried potatoes & onions on the side... Pour the beans with some broth over cornbread... Wonderful!

I'm with Eric and Phyllis, my mom was the best cook and we grew up with beans, potatoes and cornbread!! Brings back memories. Good ones.

I always use smoked ham hocks... Ham bone just doesn't have enough flavor.. I fix mine exactly this way.. Very good...

Love this recipe. Grew up with it by my Uncle Bud, best kitchen cook in my world. ;-) I agree, bring to light boil 10 minutes then lower temp and simmer for hours on back burner. ;-) What can I say - YUMMI..

It reminds me of my grandmother. What I did was added a bay leaf and some oregano and cooked for 7 hours until the water was just about gone, then I sat down and ate like a hungry man.:) GREAT RECIPE!!!

Love the basics! I was told years ago to purchase "heavily smoked" hocks but not sure if my grocer knows what that means (next time I'll smoke them myself). I did end up adding liquid smoke. I use a little oil in the pot and brown the hocks, add onions and garlic (I use extra) Jalapenos. I fine diced kielbasa to add flavor (this time turkey but last year I used the real deal) Adding water I cooked this combo for 2-3 hours. Tomorrow morning cut up the hock rinds bite size, bring to boil then add soaked beans and season more toward the end. Last year at super bowl I made the above but was too salty so I fine diced one or two potatoes and tossed them in. no one noticed the potatoes (I checked) "pop" and bro in law - both Southern men and very picky eaters said it was the best ever. Even though it's almost 70 here in SV I'm still making this wonderful soothing dish w/honey Jalapeño corn bread and a salad. PERFECT!

Down here in South Texas, we add a little bit a cilantro and just a couple small tomatoes (Rotel if you're truly Texan...includes some jalapenos and a bit of onion, but I always add my own onion).

I love this type of food!

I love soup beans, one way I make a meal.. Is tear apart a hunk of cornbread. Tear a piece of butter lettuce, chop a green onion , fry a slice of bacon chop and add big ladle of beans and drizzle a lil bacon grease. Sounds a lil crazy but I swear u will love it..

Really like this recipe ... though I've added a few things. My favorite is close to a bottle of really dry red wine (from Chili is my favorite, blood red). Also I've added a bit of San J Organic Tamari sauce, fresh ground mustard, ginger & turmeric. The wine really creates the most flavorable juice. I top off the beans when eating with a cheddar cheese and very good organic corn chips. Be careful with the Jalapenos. If you try to sniff them, you can get a severe nasal burn ... treated with a citric acid will relieve the pain (lemon or lime juice). Long live such recipes! Seriously, it keeps me alive! ... CEC/WestTexas

Update: Sorry for the haste in the previous post. I prepare the beans by soaking over night and then still cook them for many hours, possibly 6-7 . I add the onion, Jalapenos, garlic & ham hocks at the beginning and most of the spices much later and especially the dry red wine, which is quite significant. The Ginger and Mustard are from my depression era farm raised mother. These two spices together will mitigate the explosive effect of tearing a hole in the bottom of your pants nearest to your posterior vent. They inhibit the gastric creation of profusely explosive gases! Seriously! ;-) And they work! Enjoy!

Pinto beans and ham hocks... MMMM MM! I cook alot of Pintos for home and cookoffs. I treat pintos like a soup or chilli and try to layer flavors. Adding to this recipe... 1st I use chicken stock, no water. Rotel, 2-3 chopped jalapeno, 2 packs of sazon goya ham and 2 packs of the vegetable, dash of dry mustard and Worcestershire. I like a little liquid smoke but be careful when cooking for guests. It adds a flavor that people either love or hate. lastly take a 1/4 cup of your beans near the end and mash them and put them back in the pot and enjoy.

To give it that special touch, I smoke my ham hocks with mesquite wood prior to adding to pot. Add a can of Rotel tomatoes.