bean stew
It's been weeks, maybe a month, since I've made a giant batch o' bean stew.
I didn't want to be cooking today, especially not in a 450° F oven (it's 90+ degrees out and 80 in the house w/the AC on), but I need more easy food in the house, and I pre-soaked the beans days ago so they were about to go and the chicken legs needed cooking.
This is a simple one:
6 drumsticks (approx 2 lbs)
2 onions, coarsely chopped
4 stalks celery, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
2 lbs great northern beans, pre-soaked
a bunch of water + 1/4 cup applesauce
2 bay leaves
6 whole allspice, cracked/smushed
2 juniper berries, smushed
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper + 1 tsp
1 tsp whole cumin seed + 1 tsp
1 tsp whole coriander + 1 tsp
1 Tbsp za'atar + 1 Tbsp
fresh thyme & fresh oregano (approx 1tsp each?)
parsley (somewhere between chopped and minced)
1 tsp cardamom
1.5 Tbsp kosher salt
brown the chicken legs with a 1 Tbsp of olive oil, kosher salt, and black pepper, in a dutch oven at some hot temperature (400 degrees?)
remove the chicken legs & reduce heat to 300-350
add onion and cook until translucent turning golden (5-10 minutes)
add celery, saute another 3-5 minutes
Return chicken to pan, add beans, spices, and several quarts of water (+applesauce)
cover and cook at 450 for ~1 hour (until it's been boiling for a bit)
stir, recover, reduce heat (to 300?), cook 2-3 hours
add parsley, fresh herbs, salt, and bump up the existing herbs as noted above
cook ~30 more minutes
serve as is, over rice, or however the heck you want
I didn't want to be cooking today, especially not in a 450° F oven (it's 90+ degrees out and 80 in the house w/the AC on), but I need more easy food in the house, and I pre-soaked the beans days ago so they were about to go and the chicken legs needed cooking.
This is a simple one:
6 drumsticks (approx 2 lbs)
2 onions, coarsely chopped
4 stalks celery, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
2 lbs great northern beans, pre-soaked
a bunch of water + 1/4 cup applesauce
2 bay leaves
6 whole allspice, cracked/smushed
2 juniper berries, smushed
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper + 1 tsp
1 tsp whole cumin seed + 1 tsp
1 tsp whole coriander + 1 tsp
1 Tbsp za'atar + 1 Tbsp
fresh thyme & fresh oregano (approx 1tsp each?)
parsley (somewhere between chopped and minced)
1 tsp cardamom
1.5 Tbsp kosher salt
brown the chicken legs with a 1 Tbsp of olive oil, kosher salt, and black pepper, in a dutch oven at some hot temperature (400 degrees?)
remove the chicken legs & reduce heat to 300-350
add onion and cook until translucent turning golden (5-10 minutes)
add celery, saute another 3-5 minutes
Return chicken to pan, add beans, spices, and several quarts of water (+applesauce)
cover and cook at 450 for ~1 hour (until it's been boiling for a bit)
stir, recover, reduce heat (to 300?), cook 2-3 hours
add parsley, fresh herbs, salt, and bump up the existing herbs as noted above
cook ~30 more minutes
serve as is, over rice, or however the heck you want