{"id":12021,"date":"2013-01-07T12:31:13","date_gmt":"2013-01-07T11:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/?p=12021"},"modified":"2013-02-06T11:34:23","modified_gmt":"2013-02-06T10:34:23","slug":"brittany-bean-stew-fasolka-po-bretonsku","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/?p=12021","title":{"rendered":"Brittany Bean Stew (Fasolka po breto\u0144sku)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"fasolkabrpj\"<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, this stew doesn’t come from Brittany, but from Poland and is actually unheard of in the region its name bears (Cassoulet is the only French bean stew I know but it is quite different and comes from another part of the country). This one-pot simple meal is very far from impressive culinary creations, but the blend of tomato sauce, smoked sausage and marjoram create unique flavours and aroma, making it absolutely irresistible (at least in my case). I have been meaning to write about this comfort dish for quite a long time because I think it would please the palates of most of you. Moreover, I know the ingredients are available in most (at least Western) countries. Luckily I was reminded of it by the famous Greek soup called\u00a0Fasolada<\/a>, posted by Katerina (Culinary Flavours<\/a>), not only because it’s based on beans, but also because “fasola” means “bean” in Polish too. (Talking of beans, MJ (MJ’s Kitchen<\/a>) has recently posted a typical Southern US Hoppin’ John<\/a>, which she called Skippin’ Jenny).<\/p>\n

Different bean stews exist all around the world, not only in Greece or in the US. At first sight they might be similar – they usually contain beans, meat, onions and often tomato sauce – but what appears as small details is what makes the biggest difference. In case of the Polish stew smoked meat and\/or sausages are extremely important, but marjoram is simply compulsory. Marjoram is one of the most ubiquitous herbs in the Polish cuisine and added to smoked meat and such heavy ingredients as beans or cabbage, not only does it improve the digestion but also gives the special Polish “touch”. Without it, this is just a vague, international bean stew.<\/p>\n

My – slightly modified – recipe is taken from\u00a0this<\/a>\u00a0Polish website.<\/p>\n

TIPS: The use of Maggi (which I had considered for a long time a typically Polish seasoning until I talked to my Asian and Swiss friends who were also convinced their countries\/regions had invented it) is not necessary, but to me it brings back childhood memories. Actually the bottle of Maggi I keep is used only in 2-3 Polish dishes.<\/p>\n

I don’t think any of you would be tempted to skip tomato juice\/concentrate or onions or beans, but I insist once more on the absolute necessity to include smoked meat (sausage is the best here) and marjoram. It cannot be substituted with thyme or origan or any other herb.\u00a0If you cannot get marjoram in your country, please contact me and I will happily send you some.<\/p>\n

Like most one-pot, home dishes, this one tastes better reheated the following day, and even better two days after. It freezes very well too.<\/p>\n

This is one of these dishes where using dried, time-consuming beans is really worth the effort and time. Canned beans can be used too, but the taste is not as good.<\/p>\n

Preparation: 2 hours (+ one night for soaking beans, if you use dried beans)<\/em><\/p>\n

Ingredients (serves 3):<\/em><\/p>\n

400 g (about 14 oz) white dried beans (I prefer the biggest I can find, but any variety will do) or 800 – 900 g drained canned beans (I do not mean the cans’ weight but the drained beans’ weight)<\/em><\/p>\n

300 g (about 10 oz) smoked meat or sausage (bacon, sausage etc., I usually prefer half sausage half smoked lean pork, but sausage alone is great too)<\/em><\/p>\n

1 big onion<\/em><\/p>\n

3 big garlic cloves<\/em><\/p>\n

3 tablespoons dried marjoram<\/em><\/p>\n

1 tablespoon dried savory (not obligatory)<\/em><\/p>\n

2 litres (about 8 cups) chicken or vegetable stock<\/em><\/p>\n

5-6 tablespoons tomato pur\u00e9e<\/em><\/p>\n

3 tablespoons Maggi (not obligatory)<\/em><\/p>\n

salt, pepper, sweet paprika, hot paprika<\/em><\/p>\n

If using dried beans soak them in water overnight.<\/p>\n

Rinse them and cook in the chicken stock for one hour or until they become slightly tender.<\/p>\n

If you use canned beans, drain them and wash off the canning liquid.<\/p>\n

In the meantime chop the onion and fry it in 1 tablespoon oil until it becomes transparent.<\/p>\n

Cut up the smoked meat into bite-sized pieces. Slice the sausage.<\/p>\n

Fry them with the onion for a couple of minutes, constantly stirring.<\/p>\n

Put aside.<\/p>\n

Add the fried meat and onion to the cooked beans (if you use canned beans, add 1 litre vegetable or chicken stock or water with instant stock).<\/p>\n

Chop the garlic and add to the pot together with the tomato pur\u00e9e and the remaining spices and herbs.<\/p>\n

Simmer for one hour at very low heat, adding water if necessary.<\/p>\n

The final consistency should be very thick, not soupy.<\/p>\n

Serve with bread.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Surprisingly, this stew doesn’t come from Brittany, but from Poland and is actually unheard of in the region its name bears (Cassoulet is the only…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[69,184],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12021"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12021"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12735,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12021\/revisions\/12735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}