Brown butter sage Cranberry beans with chard
Creator notes
The beauty of cooking dried beans is the ability to layer flavors every step of the way. That’s why this recipe follows the Primary Beans Cooking Guide – ensuring these Cranberry beans are saturated with flavor before finishing them off with a simple toasty brown butter and sage sauce to enhance the natural nuttiness of the beans and make them Thanksgiving-ready.
– Jackie Young (@cookwithjackie)
Featured bean: Cranberry
Other beans to try: Speckled Bayo
Take 'em from dried to cooked with our guide!
Ingredients
- ½ lb dried Primary Beans Cranberry beans
- Olive oil
- 1 shallot
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 lemon
- 1 sprig sage plus 15 leaves, divided
- 4 sprigs parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp coarse salt, plus more to taste
- Fresh cracked black pepper
- 3 large chard leaves (about ½ bunch)
- 4 tbsp butter
Steps
Prepare the aromatics: Halve and peel shallot, slice head of garlic in half crosswise, peel 2 strips of lemon peel, and tie sage and parsley into a bouquet garni using kitchen twine.
Char the garlic and shallot: In a large Dutch oven, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium. Add garlic and shallot, cut side down, and cook for 1-2 minutes. After garlic becomes fragrant, remove to prevent burning, followed by shallot.
Cook the beans: Add beans to the Dutch oven with the oil, return garlic and shallot to the pot along with lemon peel, bay leaf, and bouquet garni. Add enough water to submerge beans by 1-½ inches, then add salt, a few turns fresh cracked black pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. Stir and let cook for 1-½ to 2 hours, until beans are tender. Discard aromatics and drain well.
Prepare and cook the chard: Slice chard leaves along the stalk to separate. Cut leaves into 2-inch thick slices and stalks into 1-inch slices. In a new large skillet, heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add stalk pieces, cook for 3 minutes. Add leaves and cook for another 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove chard and set aside on a plate. Wipe the pan for any remaining bits of chard.
Brown your butter and toss in sauce: Over medium heat, add butter, stirring constantly for 2 minutes until foaming. Toss loose sage leaves and cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove sage leaves. At this point, you should see the butter solids turning brown. Add beans, chard, and half of the fried sage leaves to butter. Toss to coat and season liberally with salt to taste.
To serve: Garnish with remaining sage leaves and fresh cracked black pepper.
