Braised Short Ribs II

11/09/2013 by Laura Leave a Comment

It is no secret I love short ribs! They were not on my shopping list on Sunday, but when I saw these beautiful ribs; on sale, they jumped right into my basket. I procrastinated and did not get around to marinating them, as I usually do. I searched the internet and came across this “quicker” recipe. It is inspired by one Jenny Rosentrach and Andy Ward created at Bon Apetit.

For the Braised Short Ribs

2-3 pounds of beef short ribs, approximately 6-8

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 large carrot, peeled and diced

1 celery stalk, peeled and diced

2 tablespoons Wondra flour

1 tablespoon tomato paste

3/4 of 750-ml bottle dry red wine

Tie the herbs together with kitchen twine, into a little bundle:

a few sprigs of sprigs flat-leaf parsley

a few sprigs of thyme

2 sprigs rosemary

2 fresh or dried bay leaves

3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled

2 cups low-salt beef stock

Bisto for thickening

Preheat oven to 325°. Season short ribs with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches, brown short ribs on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer short ribs to a plate. Pour off all but 3 Tbsp. drippings from pot.

Add onions, carrots, and celery to pot and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until onions are browned, about 5 minutes. Add flour and tomato paste; cook, stirring constantly, until well combined 2-3 minutes. Stir in wine, then add the herb bundle, garlic cloves and short ribs with any accumulated juices. Bring to a boil; lower heat and simmer until wine is reduced by half, about 25 minutes. Stir in stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and transfer to oven.

Cook until short ribs are tender, about 3 hours. Transfer short ribs to a platter. Remove the herb bundle. Spoon fat from surface of sauce and discard. I used my fat separator, to get as much fat out of the sauce as possible. I did not strain out the carrot, celery and onion, as the recipe suggests. Bring the sauce to a boil and thicken with a couple tablespoons of Bisto. Taste for seasoning. Serve with mashed potatoes. YUMM!

Arroz con Pollo – Chicken with Saffron Rice and Peas

10/16/2013 by Laura Leave a Comment

I have made this recipe many times over the years. It is adapted from the Foods of the World – Spain and Portugal, Time Life cookbook series. As I mentioned on my “About” page, my Mom subscribed to this series of cookbooks and received one country or region per month, for two years. I learned to cook many international dishes from these books. The original set was sold at one of their pre cross-country move yard sales. Thanks to eBay, I have a full set of my own!

Don’t faint when you go to buy the Saffron. A little goes a long way… it is worth the splurge. The color, taste and aroma are so unique – there is not a suitable substitute. Saffron is harvested and packed entirely by hand. The threads come from the saffron crocus, Crocus sativus. I may plant a few bulbs myself next year!

For the Arroz con Pollo

1 chicken, about 3 pounds, cut into 6 to 8 serving pieces

Salt and fresh ground pepper

oil for frying

1/4 pound salt pork, diced

1 chopped sweet onion

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 cup dry, white wine

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 to15 ounces)

1 1/2 cups rice, uncooked

1 cup fresh or frozen peas

3 cups hot chicken stock

1/4 teaspoon ground saffron

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Pat the chicken pieces completely dry with a paper towel. Season all sides with salt and pepper. Set aside. Warm a little oil in a heavy pan. Add the salt pork and cook, stirring frequently, until crisp and golden. Remove to a paper towel to drain.

Remove all but a tablespoon, or so, of oil from the cooking pan. Brown the chicken on all sides until it is a rich, golden brown. Remove from pan, when browned on all sides.

Add the onions and garlic to the pan and sauté until soft. Deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup white wine.

Add the tomatoes, with their juice, and the parprika. Simmer about 5 minutes. Add the rice, heated chicken stock, saffron, peas and pork. Bring to a simmer and cook about 5 minutes.

Return the chicken to the pot. Cover and continue to cook on low heat until the liquid has been absorbed and the chicken and rice are done, about 25 minutes. To serve, place a piece of chicken on top of a serving of rice. Garnish with copped parsley. Serve with a crisp green salad and crusty bread.

White Bean, Kale and Italian Chicken Sausage Soup

09/25/2013 by Laura 1 Comment

I have written frequently about our unbelievable summer in Seattle. I am sad to report, that has all changed! The first day of Autumn left us with pouring rain and temperatures dipping into the 40’s! I may stop arguing with Dave about turning the heat on.

The arrival of fall is not all bad. It means it is SOUP season. I LOVE SOUP! You will notice this as we move through the first fall and winter season of my blog. Keep an eye out for Beef and Barley, Clam Chowder, Spicy Butternut Squash, Chicken Noodle, Avgolemono and a Persian barley soup I finely found a recipe for!

Today I made one of my all time favorites…. Italian Chicken Sausage, White Bean and Kale Soup. There are 100’s of variations of this soup out there on the WWW. Mine includes a couple of twists….parmesan rinds and white vermouth! Give it a try, you won’t be sorry!

Ingredients

1 pound small white beans, soaked overnight

2 quarts chicken stock (or veggie stock, if you want to make this vegetarian)

1 pound Italian Chicken Sausage (or Field Roast Italian style sausage, if you want to make this vegetarian)

1 large onion, diced

5 carrots, peeled, halved and sliced

4 stalks celery, diced

1 cup diced tomatoes (I still had some from the garden)

5 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed and minced

1 bunch Lacitiono Kale, stems removed and sliced

1 cup Dry Vermouth (the white one)

4-5 parmesan rinds – ask for them at the cheese counter if you don’t see them

Salt and Pepper

Shredded parmesan for garnish

Place the soaked, rinsed, drained beans in a large soup pot. Add the chicken stock and parmesan rinds. Bring to a slow simmer, and cook about 90 minutes.

Brown the sausage in a sauté pan with a little olive oil. When the sausage is browned, add in the dry vermouth. Scrape up all the browned bits. Pour all into the soup pot with the beans and broth.

Add the carrots, celery, onion, tomatoes and garlic to the soup pot. Let simmer about 45 minutes. Add the sliced kale and cook an additional 45 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. This soup freezes well.

Chicken, Andouille Sausage and Shrimp Gumbo

09/23/2013 by Laura 3 Comments

We first started making Cajun style food at home, when one of our all time favorite restaurants, Berk’s in Ballard, closed years ago. We still miss Berk’s and always compare our food to what we would have ordered there. Dave’s love of Cajun food grew even stronger with frequent visits to The Cajun Queen in Charlotte, NC, during the six months he lived there for work.

I am certain I will get emails telling me that our version of Gumbo is not authentic – which I will acknowledge right now. Our recipes are suited to our tastes and have come together after reading Gumbo recipes from John Besh, Emeril, The Junior League of Lafayette, The Cajun Gourmet: Carlo Di Napoli, Paul Prudhomme, Justin Wilson and many others. This is about a 3 hour preparation, so plan accordingly.

Need some Cajun inspiration to get you started? Check out Dave singing Jambalaya with our friends The Hank Williams Review, at our wedding a “few” years ago!

Laura and Dave’s Gumbo

For the roux

3/4 cup of High Heat Oil – I like Spectrum High Heat Sunflower Oil

3/4 cup of flour

Heat the oil in a large, very heavy stock pot. Heat over medium high heat, to just about smoking. Add the flour, stir constantly to bring the roux to the color of peanut butter. If it starts to smoke, turn it down a little. You will know if you have burnt it and need to start over, as it will smell burnt! This process should take about 30 minutes, or as Emeril once told me – about the time it takes to drink two beers!

2 cups diced celery

2 cups diced onion

2 cups diced green pepper

Add half the diced vegetables to the finished roux, stirring well. Let cook about 10 minutes. Add the remaining vegetables and cook another ten minutes. (Adding them all at once puts too much water into the mixture and will stop the cooking.)

1 22 ounce bottle of dark beer

1 quart (32 ounce) seafood stock

1 16 ounce can diced tomatoes with juice

Add the beer and simmer about 5 minutes to reduce the alcohol. Stir in the stock and the diced tomatoes.

Next, add the seasonings. You will adjust the seasoning throughout the cooking process. Start with the lowest recommended amount first!

4-6 Tablespoons Cajun Seasoning (make sure it is salt free, so you can control the salt)

1 Tablespoon Marjoram

2 Bay Leaves

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Simmer the mixture over low heat about 40 minutes. While the mixture is simmering, grill the sausage and chicken thighs to add color and flavor. You are not cooking them all the way through. Let the sausage and chicken cool before adding back into the pot, to ensure they retain their juices.

8-10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, seasoned with a little Cajun seasoning, salt and pepper

6-8 Andouille Sausage (we love the Pork Andouille sausage from Whole Foods)

Add the chicken thighs and the sausage to the gumbo and continue to simmer over very low heat about an hour. Adjust for seasoning….Does it need more Cajun spice, cayenne, salt, pepper? We do not cut the sausage up. We have found leaving them whole keeps them a lot juicer.

2 cups sliced okra (we use frozen)

At the end of one hour, add the frozen okra. Continue to cook another hour. Once again, adjust for seasoning….Does it need more Cajun spice, cayenne, salt, pepper?

Add the shrimp about 30 minutes prior to serving. Simmer very gently. Overcooking the shrimp will make them tough and rubbery. Adding the shrimp at the same time you start the rice, will ensure everything is ready to go at once.

1 pound 21/25 count raw, peeled/deveined tail-on shrimp

Diced green onions for garnish

Cooked white rice for serving

To plate, place a scoop of rice on a plate or bowl. Add a scoop of gumbo and garnish with sliced green onion. Serve with a crisp green salad and fresh, crusty bread.

Laura and Dave’s Gumbo – Ingredient List

3/4 cup of High Heat Oil – I like Spectrum High Heat Sunflower Oil

3/4 cup of flour

2 cups diced celery

2 cups diced onion

2 cups diced green pepper

1 22 ounce bottle of dark beer

1 quart (32 ounce) seafood stock

1 16 ounce can diced tomatoes with juice

4-6 Tablespoons Cajun Seasoning (make sure it is salt free, so you can control the salt)

1 Tablespoon Marjoram

2 Bay Leaves

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper

8-10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, seasoned with a little Cajun seasoning, salt and pepper

6-8 Andouille Sausage (we love the Pork Andouille sausage from Whole Foods)

2 cups sliced okra (we use frozen)

1 pound 21/25 count raw, peeled/deveined tail-on shrimp

Diced green onions for garnish

Cooked white rice for serving

Marinated and Braised Beef Short Ribs

09/14/2013 by Laura Leave a Comment

The new Le Creuset Braising pan arrived on Friday. Did you know Le Creuset has a very liberal return/exchange/replace policy? Our ceramic lasagna pan ended up with a large crack, rendering it unusable. I had only had it for a couple of years. I looked on-line to see if it was still available. Sadly, it was not. However, while searching, I learned they would issue me credit and allow me to choose something else. I chose the 3.5 quart braising pan. It is lovely and I must say, it did a darn good job with my standard short rib recipe! This recipe is inspired by my favorite dish at a restaurant called Andrei’s Conscious Cuisine in Irvine, CA and Molly Steven’s recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine.

For the marinade – Day One of Two

2 large cloves garlic, smashed and peeled

2 large sprigs thyme

2 strips orange zest (about 1 inch wide, 3 to 4 inches long)

2 bay leaves

1/4 tsp. allspice berries, coarsely crushed in a mortar or with the side of a chef’s knife

1/4 tsp. black peppercorns

4 whole cloves

1 750-ml bottle hearty, dry red wine such as Zinfandel

Tie the dry seasoning together into a bouquet garni. Pour the wine into a saucepan, add the sachet and simmer gently for about 10 minutes. Cool completely.

4 to 5 lb. meaty bone-in beef short ribs, preferably English style, about 2-3 per person

1-1/2 tsp. kosher salt; more as needed

3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium to large yellow onion, coarsely chopped

1 medium celery stalk, coarsely chopped

1 medium carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped

Freshly ground black pepper

2 cups homemade or low-salt canned beef or chicken broth

2 Tablespoons of Bisto Granules*

While the marinade cools, trim away any excess fat from the top of each rib down to the first layer of meat, but don’t remove the silver skin or tough-looking tissue that holds the ribs together or onto the bone. Put the ribs in a zip lock bag and pour over the cooled marinade and sachet. Refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours, turning the ribs once or twice.

Day Two: Heat oven to 300″. Remove the ribs from the marinade, reserving the marinade and the sachet. Pat the ribs dry thoroughly with paper towels. Heat 2 Tbs. of the oil in a 5- to 6-quart Dutch oven (or other heavy pot with a lid) over medium heat until hot. Add only as many ribs as will fit without touching, and brown them, turning with tongs, until nicely browned on all sides, 3 to 4 min. per side. Transfer to a platter, and continue until all the ribs are browned.

Pour off and discard most of the fat from the pot. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil and return the pot to medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrot, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned in spots, about 8 min.

Add half of the reserved wine marinade, increase the heat to high, stir to scrape up any browned bits, and bring to a boil. Continue to boil until the liquid is reduced by half, 2 to 4 minutes. Add the remaining marinade and reduce again by about half, another 3 to 5 min. Add the broth and boil for 3 min.

Return the ribs to the pot, preferably in a single layer, along with any accumulated juices and the sachet. Crumple a large sheet of parchment and smooth it out again. Arrange it over the pot, pressing it down so it nearly touches the ribs, allowing any overhang to extend up and over the edges of the pot. Set the lid in place, and transfer to the oven.

Braise, turning the ribs with tongs every 45 minutes, until the meat is fork-tender and pulling away from the bone, about 2-1/2 hours. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to carefully transfer the ribs to a serving dish. Don’t worry if some bones slip out. Cover loosely with foil to keep warm.

Bring the sauce to a slow simmer. Skim as much fat as possible. (You can also refrigerate the sauce overnight to remove fat, before serving.) Stir in the 2 Tablespoons of Bisto* to thicken. Serve with oven roasted cipollini onions and fluffy mashed potatoes. (The original recipe calls for straining out the carrots, celery and onion before thickening the sauce. I see no reason to do that.)

*OK – I am busted. I am fessing up to my use of Bisto. It is an amazing beef flavored thickener. I use it for stews, sauces and gravies frequently. You can usually find it in the British section of the supermarket, or it can be ordered on-line. http://www.aahnight.co.uk/ As you know, this is NOT a paid advertisement. I am sharing an awesome shortcut with you!

Ravioli with Creamy Pesto, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, Basil, and Pine Nuts

08/01/2013 by Laura Leave a Comment

I absolutely adore summer when my garden, or the farmers market, dictate what is for supper. Last week we purchased beautiful, locally made ravioli from La Pasta. It has been in the back of my mind since we brought it home and popped it in the freezer. Also in the back of my mind was a jar of “The World’s Greatest Pesto” (per the signage) that I brought back from Eataly a few weeks earlier. While I have everything on hand to make pesto, it was one of those days I wanted something quick. All this coupled with the bumper crop of ripe cherry tomatoes, I knew what we would make for dinner!

Ingredients

4-6 Ounces Pesto, homemade, store bought, your favorite one

6 ounces fresh cream

1 pound fresh ravioli (ours was a 4 cheese blend)

12 -15 oven roasted cherry tomatoes

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

1/2 cup slivered basil, plus a little more for garnish

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus a little more for garnish

Directions

Roast the cherry tomatoes in a 375′ oven in a small pan coated with olive oil, for about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper before placing in oven. Remove from oven and set aside.

Toast the pine nuts over low heat in a small frying pan. Watch carefully as they easily burn. Remove from heat and set aside.

Grate the parmesan cheese, set aside.

Slice the basil, set aside.

Fill a pasta pot with water. Add salt, bring to boil. Meanwhile – prepare the sauce.

Warm a large sauté pan over low heat. Add a touch of olive oil. Add in the pesto and warm.

Add the parmesan, the basil and the cream. Stir gently to melt the cheese and warm the sauce.

Prepare the ravioli according to directions. (Fresh ravioli usually cook perfectly in about 8 minutes.) Drain the ravioli. Add to the sauté pan.

Add the toasted pine nuts, slivered basil and roasted tomatoes. Garnish with parmesan cheese. Serve with a cold, crisp salad, crusty Italian bread and a light Pinot Grigio.

Enjoy!

Tomatoes, Basil, Zucchini – Laura’s Summer Risotto

07/25/2013 by Laura Leave a Comment

Tonight’s dinner was inspired by a posting by Andrew Scrivani who taught the Food Photography class I took last weekend, at CreativeLIVE.com. The beautiful Tomato and Basil Risotto was created by Martha Rose Shulman, and featured in the NY Times. Andrew shot and styled the photo that was published with the recipe.

While I have a couple ripe tomatoes in the garden, I did not have enough for this recipe. A quick trip to the Farmer’s Market (there is one everyday in the summer, somewhere in Seattle) and we were ready to go. I knew Dave would not be happy with the original vegetarian version of this recipe, so I decided to add in Chicken Italian Sausage and Speck (smoked Prosciutto). Oh, I also added some diced zucchini….I am adding diced zucchini to everything right now!

Laura’s Summer Risotto

Ingredients

extra virgin olive oil, for sautéing

2 quarts of chicken stock

1 pound Italian chicken sausage, removed from casings

5 slices of Speck or Prosciutto, cut into strips

1 small zucchini, diced

1 onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 large diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 cup dry white

1 additional diced large tomato (I used up my small red and yellow cherry tomatoes)

1/2 cup julienned fresh basil

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese – reserve a little for garnish

Put the broth into a saucepan and bring it to a simmer over low heat.

Brown the sausage in a little olive oil in a sauté pan. Add the diced zucchini and the Speck. Sauté about 5 minutes. Add a good splash of wine (about 1/3 cup), steam for a minute. Turn off the heat and set aside.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a heavy saucepan. Sauté the onion about 5 minutes. Add the rice and continue to sauté about 5 more minutes. The rice will snap and pop.

Add the 3 diced tomatoes, thyme, garlic and salt and pepper. Sauté until the tomatoes have broken down a bit, bout 5 minutes.

Add the remaining wine and stir until it has evaporated and been absorbed by the rice. Begin adding the simmering stock, a couple of ladleful’s (about 1 cup) at a time. The stock should just cover the rice, and should be bubbling, not too slowly but not too quickly. Cook, stirring often, until it is just about absorbed. Add another ladleful or two of the stock and continue to cook in this fashion, adding more stock and stirring when the rice is almost dry. You do not have to stir constantly, but stir often and when you do, stir vigorously. When the rice is just tender all the way through but still chewy (al dente), in 20 to 25 minutes, it is done.

Stir in the reserved sausage mixture.

Add one more ladle of stock to the rice. Stir in the additional diced tomatoes, basil and Parmesan and remove from the heat. The mixture should be creamy (add more stock if it isn’t). Serve right away with a garnish of Parmesan and basil.

Laura’s Boeuf Bourguignon

07/24/2013 by Laura Leave a Comment

I was flipping through recipes at the NY Times website when I came across Mark Bittman’s Boeuf Bourguignon recipe. What caught my eye was: TOTAL TIME 2 HOURS. “No way”, I thought. Most of the BB recipes I have made in the past require an overnight marinade, and 6 hours of cooking. Since it was Mark Bittman’s recipe, I decided to give it a whirl, with a few adaptations of my own, of course!

Ingredients

Olive oil for sautéing

1/4 pound slab bacon, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (Regular “Sunday” bacon is ok too!)

2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch cubes

Salt and Pepper

1 large onion, diced

1 large carrot, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

4 sprigs of thyme

3 bay leaves

2 cloves crushed garlic

1/2 cup chopped, fresh parsley leaves, plus extra for garnish

1/2 bottle dry red wine, pinot noir preferred

12 small, button mushrooms, trimmed and cut in half

12 pearl onions – I like the convenience of the frozen ones

Cook the bacon cubes in a little oil in a heavy Dutch oven that has a lid. When bacon cubes are crisp, remove from pan and set aside. Add meat in batches, not overcrowding the pan, and brown on all sides over medium high heat. Season with salt and pepper while cooking. Remove from pan and set aside.

Turn heat down to medium and add onions, carrots, celery, thyme, bay leaves, garlic and parsley.

Cook until all vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes. Add wine and simmer about 5 minutes.

Return meat to pan. Bring back to a slow simmer. Cover and cook about an hour. (Because I had extra cooking time available, I continued this phase about two hours. You could also transfer this to a crock pot and cook on low, 6 hours at this stage.)

Add the onions, mushrooms and bacon to the pan. Return to simmer and cook an additional 30-40 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

I chose to thicken the stew up a bit with the Buerre Manie technique below.

Buerre Manie for thickening

2 Tablespoons of flours

2 tablespoons of butter

Knead the flour into the butter with your fingers. Make tiny, pea sized balls. Add two – three at a time to the simmering stew, until desired thickness is achieved.

Extra instructions here:

http://www.saveur.com/article/Techniques/saveur-100-beurre-manie

Mashed potatoes for serving – we like red potatoes. We do not remove the peels.

Enjoy!

PS – I hope you are noticing the improvements in the photos! I took an awesome (and FREE) Food Photography class on line at CreateLIVE this weekend. What an amazing resource. Check them out at www.creativeLIVE.com.

French Inspired “Pork and Bean” Stew

04/29/2013 by Laura 2 Comments

This one pot wonder is inspired by a post on the blog “Not Without Salt”, who was just named the Best Food Blog 2013 by Saveur Magazine! The original version was created for a pressure cooker and featured in the new “Pressure Cooker Perfection” cookbook from America’s Test Kitchen. I have made this recipe twice now. I fully intended to use my pressure cooker the first time I made this, but it was far too small for this recipe. So I improvised. The first time I used the crock pot and the second time I braised the stew in the oven about 5 hours. I actually think the crock pot version was slightly better. Regardless, this is a fabulous “stew”, that not only fills your tummy at dinner time, it also fills your kitchen with the most amazing aromas as it cooks!

Ingredients

8 ounces, 1 1/4 cups, dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight in water*

*You could use two cans of cannellini beans. You would need to rinse them extremely well, and add the last hour of cooking.

3-4 pound boneless pork butt roast, cut into 1-2″ fat trimmed cubes and seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper

2 yellow onions, coarsely chopped

8 cloves garlic, minced

6-8 carrots cut into 2″ chinks

1 large fennel bulb cut into 1″ chunks

2 Tablespoons Herbs de Provence

2 bay leaves

1/3 cup flour

1-2 cups dry white wine

2-3 cups chicken stock

high heat oil for browning

salt and pepper

Brown the pork in a skillet (if using the crock pot) or Dutch oven (if braising in the oven) in about 2 tablespoons of oil. Brown in 2-3 batches, don’t crowd the pan.

Once all the meat has been browned, drain the excess oil, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pan. Add the onions and saute about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and saute about 5 more minutes. Scrape up all the lovely bits from the bottom of the pan.

Sprinkle the 1/3 cup of flour over the onions and garlic. Saute about 1 minute to cook in the flour. Add the Herbs de Provence and the Bay leaves.

Add in 1- 2 cups of wine. Stir briskly, scraping the pan to incorporate all the “goodies” from the bottom of the pan. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the liquid is reduced by half.

Reduce the heat and add the ingredients back into to pan as listed below. (If using the crock pot, layer the ingredients as listed, and then pour the onion, garlic and wine reduction over them.)

Add in the drained, soaked beans followed by the pork, the carrots and fennel. (If using canned beans, do not add them yet!) Add chicken broth to ensure all ingredients are covered. (If using canned beans, do use about 1-1 1/2 cups broth.) If using a Dutch oven, bring all to a simmer and then move to 325′ oven for about 5 hours, stirring every 45 minutes to an hour. (If using canned beans, cook 4 hours and then add the beans, cook one more hour.) If using the crock pot, cook 6-7 hours. Again, if using canned beans, add them in at the last hour of cooking time.

To serve, plate in a bowl and garnish with chopped parsley. Serve with crusty french bread, a tossed green salad* and a Washington Pinot Grigio.

*If I had skipped the salad, I would have skipped the trip to the ER to get stitches in my hand! I was dishing things up at 7pm. I went to open a bottle of salad dressing. The bottle was broken, just under the cap. When I went to turn the cap, it fell off and the glass at the top of the bottle sliced my palm. It was pretty deep and I knew I needed stitches. So, everything got turned down to “warm” and we headed to the neighborhood ER. 3 stitches and only one hour later, we sat down to this lovely meal. The salad dressing bottle is below. I am not going to show you the hand, or the stitches!