Bohneneintopf (German bean stew)

Method

1. Render the bacon in a 4 litre pot over medium heat until the fat has run and the pieces are starting to crisp, about 4 minutes. Do not pour the fat off; it carries most of the flavour.
2. Add the onion, carrot and celery and sweat 6 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Stir often; the bacon fat browns fast once the sugars from the vegetables hit the pan.
3. Potatoes, beans, broth, bay leaf and savory in. Bring to a simmer, then turn down until it barely bubbles.
4. Simmer 20 minutes, until a knife slides into a potato chunk with no resistance and the carrots still have a little bite.
5. Fish out the bay leaf. If using sausage, slice it in and let it warm through for 3 minutes without boiling.
6. Stir in the vinegar off the heat, then season with salt and pepper. Taste again after the vinegar; it changes how much salt the pot needs.
7. Parsley goes on at the table, not in the pot, or it turns grey and limp before anyone gets a bowl.

Method in the Thermomix

Written for a TM5 or TM6, 2.2 litre bowl.

1. Bacon into the dry bowl. Chop 3 sec / speed 5, then sauté 4 min / 120 °C / speed 1, measuring cup off, until the fat has rendered.
2. Add the onion, carrot and celery, roughly chopped. Sauté 6 min / 120 °C / speed 1, measuring cup off, scraping down once halfway through.
3. Add the potatoes in 2 cm chunks, the beans, broth, bay leaf and savory. Cook 20 min / 100 °C / speed 1, measuring cup on, with the simmering basket on the lid in place of the cup if it threatens to spit.
4. Remove the bay leaf. If using sausage, add it sliced and warm through 3 min / 90 °C / reverse / speed 1 so the slices stay whole.
5. Stir in the vinegar, salt and pepper. Mix 10 sec / reverse / speed 1 to combine without breaking the beans up further. Taste through the lid and correct.

Notes

• Savory, not thyme. German bean dishes lean on Bohnenkraut for a reason: it has a peppery, slightly bitter edge that plain thyme does not, and it is what makes this taste like a Bohneneintopf rather than a generic bean soup.
• The vinegar is not optional in spirit, even though it is written as to taste. A pot of beans and bacon fat is rich and a little flat without something sharp cutting through it at the end.
• This keeps and reheats well, and the flavour is better the next day once the savory has had time to spread through the broth. Loosen with a splash of broth if it has thickened too much in the fridge.
• Do not let it boil hard once the beans are in. A rolling boil breaks the beans apart and the broth turns starchy and cloudy rather than clear.

Ingredient substitutions

• Cooked white beans can be cannellini, great northern or navy beans interchangeably. A mix of white beans and kidney beans is also traditional in some households.
• Bacon can be diced Kassler or smoked pork belly for a heartier stew. For a vegetarian pot, use 2 tablespoons of oil instead and a teaspoon of smoked paprika to stand in for the smokiness the bacon would have given.
• Beef broth makes a richer pot than vegetable broth; either works, and vegetable broth is the one that keeps it dairy-free and closer to a lighter weeknight meal.
• No Mettwurst to hand? Any coarse-cut smoked sausage works, or leave it out entirely; the stew is a complete meal with just the beans and bacon.

From Christoph Mayer

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