1 large or 2 medium onions
1 large or 2 medium carrots
1 celery stalk or 4 large dried celery leaves
2 TBL olive oil
1 large or 2 medium cloves garlic
1 TBL tomato paste
1 pound dried Great Northern beans
⅓ cup dried barley
2 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
¾ tsp dried rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 tsp mushroom base concentrate
1 TBL white miso
12 ounce package chicken sausage
2 confit duck leg quarters
This recipe assumes that the chicken sausage you are buying is pre-cooked and has no pork casing. If your sausage isn’t pre-cooked, saute it at the beginning of the recipe and add it when the beans go into the recipe. Otherwise, following along as described below.
If you add an additional confit duck leg, this recipe will probably make 6 servings.
Dice the following vegetables
- 1 large or 2 medium onions
- 1 large or 2 medium carrots
- 1 celery stalk
In my house, celery isn’t welcome so I replace the celery with about 4 large dried celery leaves which I keep around for this purpose. I have also used an equivalent volume of fennel stalks instead of the celery stalk.
In a large pot, heat
- 2 TBL olive oil
Saute the chopped vegetables until the onions are translucent. Mince
- 1 large or 2 medium cloves garlic
and add to the pot along with
- 1 TBL tomato paste
Stir until the tomato paste is evenly distributed and the garlic is fragrant. Pick over
- 1 pound dried Great Northern beans
- ⅓ cup dried barley
removing any pebbles, sticks, etc. Wash them off and add to the pot, along with
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
- ¾ tsp dried rosemary, crushed thoroughly
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp mushroom base concentrate
- 1 TBL white miso
- 11 cups water
- 2 tsp salt
Bring the contents of the pot to a boil, reduce the heat to a steady simmer and cook covered for 90 minutes. You should stir the pot every 15 minutes or so, making sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot. After 90 minutes the beans should be almost tender and you might need to add a little more water.
After 90 minutes, saute
- 12 ounce chicken sausage
in a pan until well-browned, cut them into 2-inch pieces. Trim the skin and fat from
- 2 confit duck leg quarters
Separate the legs from the thigh, at the joint. Add the sausage and confit to the pot and let cook covered for 20 minutes more. The total cooking time should be 2 hours.
Check that a few beans are fully cooked. Remove any bay leaf and thyme stems that you find as you serve the dish.
Adapted from a recipe from the New York Times Cooking site.