Crock Pot Dinner: Roman Beans with Bison and Herbs

Some kids like candy. Some like blueberries. My kid likes beans. It’s one of the first foods she ever asked for by name. “Bean?” she inquired, and then, when she got more exposure to food, “Soup?” (Meaning beans with liquid she can slurp!).

The first time she ever had beans, we were at a restaurant—one of the amazing little Peruvian chicken places that the DC area is known for. The kid whose largest solid meal to date had consisted of only one or two bites, ate most of a small bowl of beans we were all sharing and Daddy had to go ask for more.

Now, I have to admit something. Beans and I go way back. I have my roots in Texas and grew up with a mom whose cooking included flavors inspired by our German ancestry, the Texas farm, and Mexican spice. But, we ate a lot of pintos and ham hocks growing up. We ate so many that I complained to my friends that all we ever ate was beans and cornbread. I’m not sure exactly why they were such a staple in our household. Maybe it was because they were so easy to slow cook while Mom was working, or maybe it was because they were a cheap way to feed a family of four. (Even with today’s high grocery prices, a regular size bag of beans is usually under $2 and a larger bulk bag that makes several batches is usually only about $5). Probably it was some of both.

I was pretty burned out on pintos by the time I left home and other than a few black bean dip and soup recipes, I haven’t spent much time revisiting home-cooked beans. The few times I did make them—to give Brian the wild west experience and just to see if beans and I could rekindle our relationship—I was pretty blah about it and left them standing in the fridge until it was time to dump them. I didn’t really feel like I was missing out on anything.

But, sitting in the Peruvian chicken place, I watched Mia eat and eat and eat those beans. I’m not sure what kind of frijoles they were, but they weren’t pintos. And, I had to admit, they were delicious. They were tender and creamy, with a hint of ham in the flavoring. We started going for chicken and beans at least once a week until a few months ago when we decided to step outside the box.

When I pinned the ix on the nay of processed foods, I also wanted to cut out a large number of canned foods—including some that otherwise didn’t seem all that processed, like canned beans. I decided to purge the pantry of pinto, black, garbanzo and kidney cans, in part, because soaking dried beans is the more traditional preparation method and I’m going hard core. However, rehydrating my own beans also allows me to control more of the process, including the amount and type of salt I use.

In the past two months I’ve made at least one pot of beans or a bean soup each week. To replace my recalled pinto, I’ve discovered many more varieties at the local international grocery. There, can browse the two large supermarket rows devoted to beans, only a few of which are the standards I’ve seen in cans—pintos, kidneys, garbanzos, etc. Pintos and I are still on the outs, but now it’s because I’m having a love affair with more exotic varieties. Cannellinis are an easy find in any supermarket and are a new favorite for us. Roman beans look like pintos, but taste like Cadillacs. And, red beans from Salvadorian reds to organic kidneys are delicious with Creole spices.

These days, I always use the slow soak method. Quick soak methods will get you soft beans, but don’t sufficiently break down the less digestible parts of the legume. Soaking your beans overnight, discarding the soak water, and rinsing before cooking makes beans easier on the digestive tract. Additionally, a piece of kombu (a Japanese seaweed) in your soak water will further reduce the bloat and gas production factor. To put it plainly, if you put more into your beans on the front end, you’ll get less hassle, you know… on the other end.

Today, after soaking some romans overnight, I crockpotted them up with some bison stew meat. (Honestly, I prefer using lamb shank, but we eat local and it's between seasons.) On the up side, the bison cubes are equally tasty, and perhaps easier to serve because they distribute more evenly in the pot.

My recipe?

1 16oz bag dried Roman beans
Water
1 piece kombu
2 bay leaves
1 lb bison stew meat
2 to 4 large carrots chopped fine
1 onion chopped fine
3 cloves of garlic
Enough cooking oil to brown meat and veggies
Herbs de provence (to taste)
Celtic sea salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)

Place beans in a bowl and cover with water. Make sure the water line is an inch or two above the bean line. Put a piece of kombu in the soaking water. Cover. Allow to soak at room temperature overnight. In the morning, rinse beans and discard kombu and soaking water. Place beans in crock pot and add water to about two inches above the bean line. Add bay leaf. Cover. Turn on low.

There is at least one secret I know to crock pot cooking. To get a truly flavorful meal that isn’t’ reduced to a near-homogenous mush, you need to brown some of the ingredients in a pan and then add them to the pot. This step can be done halfway through the day, which is what I do when I’m having a lazy day at home. Or, if you need to turn it on and let it cook itself, you can do it in the morning. Either way, what you will want to do is add some oil to a cast iron skillet, drop in your meat, sprinkle it with some salt, pepper, and herbs de provence and brown on all sides. (Don’t add too much salt at this point, because it can affect the texture of the beans, making them tough.) I also toss the veggies (carrots, onion, and garlic) into the pan near the end of the meat cooking so they get a little of that caramelized-on-the-grill flavor. When the meat and veggies are done, I dump them in the cooking pot, season liberally with herbs de provence (basically sprinkling it all over the top and stirring) and then put the lid back on and walk away. About a half hour before serving, I turn the heat off, take a little taste, consider what it needs, and then season with salt, pepper and more herbs de provence (if needed) and it’s done! Serve with a moderate dollop of cream and a squeeze of lemon juice. (The lemon juice actually serves dual purpose, first it helps with taste and second with digestion). Leftovers reheat beautifully and can be frozen. I typically keep several containers in the freezer for convenience without the commercial.

Another easy dinner at home!

Cook's Note: After cooking, make sure to remove your bay leaves before someone gets a mouthful of unchewable vegetation!


You can get some of the products I use on Amazon (some of these are sold by the case, you might be able to find individual sizes as well):