This has become a staple in our house because of a purchase I made in the spring of 2020: I signed up for a Community Support Agriculture share of heirloom beans along with all the veggies. So we got a pound of beans a week.
Dried beans.
So many beans.
What you need:
Dried beans that you soak overnight. It doesn’t fucking matter as long as it is more than 6 hours.
Kielbasa or something like it. Ya know, precooked sausage-like hotdog or machine-separated meat in a casing.
Onions
Garlic – more is better
Other veggies (see Variations below)
Herbs (see Variations below)
Flour. Probably about a ¼ cup… you want a good coat on the shit you’re cooking
What you do:
Choppy chop the onion and garlic – make these small.
Choppy chop the veggies to bite sized pieces.
Choppy chop the kielbasa to bite sized pieces.
Use a big pot!
Put oil in the pot, when it is hot add the kielbasa and brown it. (Maillard (it’s the caramel-look meat gets when you brown it…the more you know) effect for the win).
Once the sausage is browned add the onion and garlic and sauté till the onion is transparent (like my jokes).
Add in other veggies.
Now for the fancy technique. It’s called Sange and it means to throw flour on your cooking food to thicken the sauce. So you dust (coat) the things in the pot with flour. You have to do this BEFORE you add any liquid or you will get clumps! And by coat I mean don’t be a pussy and put in enough flour to cover the things. Not so much that there are balls of flour on the bottom… that’s a sure way to get chunks.
Stir that around a bit, and then dump in the beans and the water they soaked in. Yes the water they soaked in. After googling all things dried beans I found out that you soak them to shorten cooking time by about 20 min and that the water that you soak them in has bean-y flavor so use it. If you are going to soak them for 8+ hours to reduce cooking time by 20-30 min, use the damn water.
Add more liquid so that everything is just barely covered. Sometimes I use stock, sometimes water, sometimes it’s a reason to open wine. (Like I need a reason.)
Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer (tiny little cute bubbles for those unfamiliar with simmer; just put it on the lowest setting you have). Stir it or the damn thing will stick to the bottom and burn.
Cook for at least an hour, but I’ve let go as much as four with occasional stirring. Taste it and salt till it is good. I’d wait to salt till the end cause you are reducing liquid and if you salt at the beginning it’ll end up salty. Kind like me after a few drinks.
Enjoy with crusty bread slathered in butter. I’m going to keep a running list of the variations I’ve done below and link to the photos on Instagram for your enjoyment. Like I said we have this almost every week and I can’t do the same thing forever. Although I do tend towards Kielbasa. At least that’s what I call it so the kids will eat it. You can use any machine separated and seasoned meat in a casing.
Variation 1 –
Bean – Yellow Eye Bean
Sweet potatoes, cabbage, thyme, oregano, fennel, marjoram
Kielbasa
Variation 2 –
Bean – Appaloosa
Potato, cabbage, basil, thyme, oregano, marjoram
Variation 3 –
Beans – Large Lima Beans
Potato, carrot, celery, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika