Chicken, Sausage, and Beans Oh My
I just finished reading an interesting article in The New York Times by Mark Bittman called Slow and Low Is The Way To Go, dated January 29, 2003, about cooking with a slow cooker or, as I call it - a crock-pot.
My sister-in-law prepared a recipe from this article for braised short ribs that were outstanding and one I want to reproduce for some friends this weekend.
While reading it, I was motivated to throw a meal together in my slow cooker, so I went to the freezer to see what was on hand and came up with this very slow but easy recipe for Braised Chicken, Sausage and Beans.
I had no idea how it would turn out, but I figured, "How bad could it be?" with all these tasty ingredients.
Could you be sure to read How to Braise on my website?
My surprise was how much my whole family enjoyed it. My kids usually like what I cook, but they commented on how good the meal was last night. There was a lot of broth, maybe too much, so I served the meal in soup bowls and had soup spoons on the table.
I served it with Israeli couscous, also called Ptitim, a wheat-based pasta shaped like round pearls and much bigger than the couscous we find in the supermarkets. We enjoyed some Ptitim on Saturday night while dining at a friend's, and I mentioned to my wife that I needed to find some at a specialty market.
It turned out I already had a couple of boxes in my pantry. The kids loved it and as we all know, if the kids love something different, stock up on it.
A Little Israeli Couscous History
According to Wikipedia, "Ptitim" was invented during the austerity period in Israel, when rice was scarce, to provide for the needs of the Mizrahi immigrants, whose diets were primarily made up of rice and couscous.
Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, asked Eugen Propper, one of the founders of the Osem food company, to quickly devise a wheat-based substitute for rice. Consequently, it was nicknamed "Ben-Gurion's Rice" by the people.
📖 Recipe
Braised Chicken, Sausage and Beans Recipe
Ingredients
For the Braise
- 6 chicken thighs skins removed
- 6 sweet sausage links slightly frozen - sliced into ½ inch slices
- 28 oz cans cannellini beans
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 head napa cabbage sliced
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Couscous
- 1 cup Israeli couscous
- 1¼ cups water
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- I pulled my slow cooker (crock-pot) out of the cabinet and turned it onto high. No use waiting while I prepped my ingredients, which took no time at all.
- First I removed the skin from the chicken thighs and cut off any extraneous fat and tossed the thighs into the pot.
- Next I sliced the sausages into ½ slices and added them to the pot. The sausages were not completely defrosted so they were actually easier to slice since they didn't fall apart.
- Add the canned cannellini beans with their liquids.
- Finely, chop up the onion and add it to the pot.
- I added two cups of roasted chicken stock but I could have gotten away with one cup. There was a lot of liquid in the pot which was fine with me because it had such an awesome flavor. I'm going to eat the leftovers as a soup today for lunch.
- I sliced up a head of Napa cabbage and added it to the top, seasoned with salt and pepper, put on the top and let it cook for about 6 hours.
- About 15 minutes before serving I added the balsamic vinegar and gave it a stir. Tasted it and adjusted seasonings with salt and pepper.
For the Couscous
- Prepare the Israeli couscous by simmering a cup of couscous in 1¼ cups of water. Now that I think of it, I could have used some of the liquids from the slow cooker to make the couscous. Hmmm, maybe next time.
- I put a couple of spoonfuls of couscous in each shallow bowl and served the chicken, sausage and beans over it and ladled some of the cooking liquid around it.
Notes
Some of My Favorite Chicken Recipes
- Chicken Baked in Cornbread Recipe
- Sheet Pan Chicken with Roasted Plums Potatoes and Onions
- Quick and Easy Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe
- Chicken Mushroom and Spinach Comfort Food Recipe
- Southern California Style Chicken with Rice and Beans Recipe
- Chicken Thighs with Mushrooms and Artichoke Hearts Recipe
- Simple Chicken - Tomato - Pasta Recipe
- Chicken Korma Recipe
Rike
Did you braise the chicken before you removed the skin, or after?
Hi Rike, you can braise with the skin on or off. I preferred to remove the skin before braising because it can add a lot of fat to the dish. If I browned the chicken first as I often do, I would leave the skin on. - RG