Beans in a pot

My friend Mary Kay Timm lived in Lincoln, MA, about 10 minutes from my home in Sudbury. Our sons were friends. She was a potter. I still have several great cooking pots she made. She's no longer a potter, and now her name is Yanna Coffin, and she lives in Gloucester, about 10 minutes from my home in Gloucester.
One of Yanna's pots is round and tall. It rounds in just over half way up, and has a small lid. It's a perfect bean pot. I've also cooked rice in it. A few days ago I was looking through my cookbooks and came upon the rice recipe I used to cook in Yanna's pot. It's in the Deaf Smith County Cookbook that my brother's first wife, Beth, gave me years ago. Beth and I cooked and gardened together.
A few days ago I cooked beans in Janna's pot. As far as I can remember it was red beans with an onion, some garlic, a bit of red pepper -- I didn't actually serve them as a meal. My brother Eric, who had them for dinner while we were away, said they were a bit "crunchy." I refried the beans and used them in echiladas a few days ago, but there was still a half pot left tonight, and Judith, who had prodded me for not posting recipes, was coming for dinner.
So -- I sauteed an onion in olive oil, added some chopped garlic and a diced pepper and a chopped mushroom. To this I added a cup of brown basmati rice, stirred it, and then added a bit of white wine. To cook the rice I poured in a large can of crushed tomatoes, brought it to a simmer, and simmered it till the rice was beginning to get soft.
Heeding Eric's warning that the beans were still crunchy, I put the bean pot in the oven at 250 degrees. I added the rice to the bean pot before the rice was cooked. The pot is still in the oven -- I'll edit the post after dinner and let you know how it turned out!
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A couple of hours later: We watched the beautiful match between Nadal and Federer and ate the beans and rice. It was excellent. Judith and I figured out that I must have added cumin to the beans -- it made a wonderful smoky base of flavor to the whole dish. Thank you Judith, thank you Yanna/Mary Kay, thank you Beth.
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Duncan, Eric, and I are having the third night of "beans in a pot." I sliced and fried two chicken sausages with one green pepper, and a can of corn to add a bit of liquid. I also snuck in a bit more cumin. We warmed it up in a 250 oven, then added the extras and served it with lavash flat bread, grated cheese, and a bit of sour cream (all we had left was a bit). Reminds me of a recipe I wrote down years ago: chicken for three days in one pot.