Beans with Cream and Celery

This tasted fine but the method of cooking the beans didn't work for me. They were to be boiled (after soaking) uncovered in just enough water to reach the top of the beans, so that when cooked most of the water would be gone, but I found they simply did not soften enough. I had to top up the water several times and after an hour and a half of this they were still distinctly crunchy (though cooked). Since the contrast between the crisp celery and soft beans is an important characteristic of the dish this is clearly not what's supposed to happen.