While I'm breaking in the OKJ Longhorn with a brisket I decided to make some beans. I have a pack of cicerchia beans from Rancho Gordo that I've been wanting to try. I googled an few recipes and found one by Hank Shaw, this is based loosely on his recipe: https://honest-food.net/foraging-rec...hia-bean-soup/
Here is what I did:
Serves 6-8
Prep time: 12-24 hours
Cook time: 3 hours
1 lb cicerchia beans
Olive Oil
1 T Ghee or butter
3 yellow onions, diced
3 large carrots (mine were 1" diameter and 8-10" long), diced
2 large celery stalks, diced plus leafy tops - keep separate and course chop
1 large shallot, diced
1 head of garlic. Remove skins and crush with knife
4 bay leaves
2 quarts good stock (I used 1 qt chicken stock and 1 qt strong beef stock - both homemade)
2 cups chopped spinach
7 chicken thighs, confit*
Optional: beer of your choice
S&P to taste - I recommend salting at the end, confit can be pretty salty
Pecorino cheese for garnish
*Hank's recipe called for pheasant confit. I don't have any pheasant but I had 7 chicken thighs in the freezer. I used sous vide overnight to make the confit:
Salt
7 chicken thighs
5 garlic cloves, crushed with a knife
1 sprig of thyme per thigh
Oilve oil
Kerry Gold butter
Method: Salt the chicken well, put into a vacuum seal bag with 4 pats of butter and 3 TBSP olive oil. Arrange the garlic and thyme sprigs evenly over the chicken/ Vacuum seal and sous vide at 164o for 10-12 hours. Remove chicken, remove thyme sprigs and remove the skin (save and crisp in a skillet if desired but it will be mushy and slimy in the bean soup). Coarsely shred the meat. Save the purge for another use - it is good! I labeled it Chicken Confit Love and froze it. NOTE: the confit recipe I was suing called for a bay leaf with each thigh. I was out of bay leaves so I just added 4 to the beans instead.
Meanwhile: Take the cicerchia beans and sort to remove any debris. Rinse and soak overnight to 24 hours. Discard the rinse water as there can be some mild toxins released from the beans (usually only a problem if you eat these exclusively for months but better to be safe).
In a large cast iron skillet or Dutch oven on medium low to medium heat: add 2-3 counts olive oil and some ghee or butter. Saute the onions and carrots until the onion becomes translucent. Add the celery and cook until the celery and carrot start to become tender (don't brown the veggies). Add the shallot and cook another 3-5 minutes. Add all to a large pot (I used a 2 gallon stock pot). Lightly brown the crushed garlic in the skillet and add to the pot. Add the rinsed beans to the pot then pour the stock and beer in to cover. Add the leafy celery tops and bay leaves. Bring to boil for 10 minutes and reduce to a low simmer for 1 - 3 hours or until the beans are done. Add confit and cook another 10 minutes. Add spinach and cook to desired doneness, about 3 minutes or so. Serve by added fresh grated Pecorino cheese to an empty bowl and top with the soup. Enjoy!
This is pretty savory so I added a handful of chopped cilantro with the spinach to brighten it up. Yum!
Here is what I did:
Serves 6-8
Prep time: 12-24 hours
Cook time: 3 hours
1 lb cicerchia beans
Olive Oil
1 T Ghee or butter
3 yellow onions, diced
3 large carrots (mine were 1" diameter and 8-10" long), diced
2 large celery stalks, diced plus leafy tops - keep separate and course chop
1 large shallot, diced
1 head of garlic. Remove skins and crush with knife
4 bay leaves
2 quarts good stock (I used 1 qt chicken stock and 1 qt strong beef stock - both homemade)
2 cups chopped spinach
7 chicken thighs, confit*
Optional: beer of your choice
S&P to taste - I recommend salting at the end, confit can be pretty salty
Pecorino cheese for garnish
*Hank's recipe called for pheasant confit. I don't have any pheasant but I had 7 chicken thighs in the freezer. I used sous vide overnight to make the confit:
Salt
7 chicken thighs
5 garlic cloves, crushed with a knife
1 sprig of thyme per thigh
Oilve oil
Kerry Gold butter
Method: Salt the chicken well, put into a vacuum seal bag with 4 pats of butter and 3 TBSP olive oil. Arrange the garlic and thyme sprigs evenly over the chicken/ Vacuum seal and sous vide at 164o for 10-12 hours. Remove chicken, remove thyme sprigs and remove the skin (save and crisp in a skillet if desired but it will be mushy and slimy in the bean soup). Coarsely shred the meat. Save the purge for another use - it is good! I labeled it Chicken Confit Love and froze it. NOTE: the confit recipe I was suing called for a bay leaf with each thigh. I was out of bay leaves so I just added 4 to the beans instead.
Meanwhile: Take the cicerchia beans and sort to remove any debris. Rinse and soak overnight to 24 hours. Discard the rinse water as there can be some mild toxins released from the beans (usually only a problem if you eat these exclusively for months but better to be safe).
In a large cast iron skillet or Dutch oven on medium low to medium heat: add 2-3 counts olive oil and some ghee or butter. Saute the onions and carrots until the onion becomes translucent. Add the celery and cook until the celery and carrot start to become tender (don't brown the veggies). Add the shallot and cook another 3-5 minutes. Add all to a large pot (I used a 2 gallon stock pot). Lightly brown the crushed garlic in the skillet and add to the pot. Add the rinsed beans to the pot then pour the stock and beer in to cover. Add the leafy celery tops and bay leaves. Bring to boil for 10 minutes and reduce to a low simmer for 1 - 3 hours or until the beans are done. Add confit and cook another 10 minutes. Add spinach and cook to desired doneness, about 3 minutes or so. Serve by added fresh grated Pecorino cheese to an empty bowl and top with the soup. Enjoy!
This is pretty savory so I added a handful of chopped cilantro with the spinach to brighten it up. Yum!
Comment