Pork N' Beans?

I started with bag of dried borlotti beans (I had already soaked them) and a crock pot. The chore list was pretty long today and having something that would cook away without my attention seemed like a plus.

I mixed the drained beans with sprigs of fresh thyme, fresh rosemary, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 quartered onion, 2 stalks of celery (cut into 2 inch pieces, 3 fresh bay leaves, 2 quartered tomatoes, a splash of olive oil and one large potato, peeled and halved in the crock pot. I covered it all with water and left the beans to simmer on low for about 1o hours. When the beans were tender I fished out the celery, tomato, potato, onion, and -- based on a recipe I saw Jamie Oliver make -- mashed them together with S&P and olive oil and added the mixture back into the pot to thicken the bean's liquid.

I served the beans resting on thick sourdough toast and topped with a pork chop quickly marinated in oregano, lemon, thyme and olive oil. Using the method I generally rely on for steaks, I quickly seared the chop on both sides in a hot skillet on the stove and finished in a 450º oven.