Beany stew

A beany stew, based on what I had, wtih some pre-planning.

4 chicken marylands
rock salt, peppercorns, one clove garlic, thyme, lemon verbena (I had no lemons - otherwise I would have used rind. This worked really well).

Grind spices in coffee grinder thingy, cover chicken legs in mix, let sit.

1 chorizo
smoked pork neck
One onion
garlic
thyme
bay leaves
white beans, already soaked (it's what the packet says!)
2 carrots, diced
One apple, diced
white wine
vegeta stock

Heat olive oil. Brown chicken legs, set aside.
Chop chorizo and pork, brown, set aside.
Glaze pan with wine, reserve juices.
Cook onion, garlic, herbs till soft. Throw pork products back in. Add beans. Mix well. Add juices, enough stock to almost cover mix. Set chicken legs under the mix (try to get them completely covered - I almost did but they were very big legs!). Bring to boil, let simmer 30 minutes. Add carrots and apple and mix through.

I turned it off at this point - I knew it needed another 30 minutes or so in the oven, lid off, and we were more than 30 minutes away from dinner. I was also hoping that the fats would float to the surface, and help the top to brown when it got to the oven stage. They did a little, but I'd only left it for an hour. Not even enough to get it cool.
I had put too much water in - I ladled lots out, and this helped.

Remove lid, cover surface with breadcrumbs and pepper. Put in oven until top is browned, beans are done, or you are starving.
Serve with a liberal (fistful!) sprinkling of chopped parsley, and a cold white.


The carrots and apple cook very fast, so I try to leave them out for as long as possible, rather than let them become mush. The apple is an amazing sweet smush in your mouth, unexpected. It fits so nicely with the spicy chorizo.
If I'd had celery I would have added that too.
It was really delicious for dinner again tonight. Just threw the whole pot in the fridge overnight, and the whole pot back in the oven this evening. No fuss! Sweet!