20 Nebraskaland • January-February 2021
By Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley
DUCK (OR GOOSE) AND BEANS
PHOTO
BY
JENNY
NGUYEN-WHEATLEY
IN THE FIELD
Servings: 6
Prep Time: Overnight
Cooking Time: 6 hours
Ingredients:
•
1½ pounds bone-in duck or goose
legs
•
1 pound of dried cannellini beans
•
Water
•
1 onion, separated
•
1 rib of celery, roughly sliced
•
2 carrots, roughly sliced
•
2 bay leaves
•
Olive oil
•
6 ounces of andouille sausage,
sliced
•
4 cloves of garlic, minced
•
1 bunch of kale, leaves coarsely
chopped
•
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
•
4 sprigs of fresh parsley
•
Kosher salt and pepper, to taste
•
1 tablespoon of brown sugar,
optional
1. Pour dried beans into a bowl and
submerge with water by 2 inches. Stir
in 2 tablespoons of salt. Allow to soak
for at least for 4 hours and up to 12
hours.
2. In a stock pot, combine duck legs,
8 cups of water, half the onion (reserve
the other half for later), celery, carrots
and 1 bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and
cook on low, partially covered, for
about 2 hours and 30 minutes or until
tender. Shred meat from bones and set
aside/refrigerate until ready to use.
Strain stock and discard solids.
For a richer stock, return the bones
to the pot and continue simmering for
as long as you'd like. However, make
sure that you end up with at least 4
cups of stock in the end.
3. Drain and rinse beans. Add beans
to a pot and submerge by 2 inches of
new water. Add the remaining bay leaf
to the pot and bring to a simmer. Cook
beans until tender, about 30 minutes.
Never allow the pot to come to a hard
boil, which can break the beans.
4. Preheat oven to 250° Fahrenheit. On
the stove, add oil to a 4-quart enameled
Dutch oven and heat over medium-
high. Brown the sausage and shredded
duck meat. Chop the remaining onion
and sweat with a pinch of salt until
translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the
minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
Wilt the kale with another pinch of salt.
5. Drain the cooked beans and bay
leaf and add it to the Dutch oven with
the other ingredients. Dissolve tomato
paste into 1 cup of duck stock and
add it to the pot. Add 2 more cups
of stock, more or less, to submerge
all ingredients. Mix in brown sugar
and season to taste with salt. Drop in
sprigs of parsley. Cover and braise for 3
hours in a 250° oven.
6. To serve, discard the parsley and
bay leaf. Season to taste again. Serve
hot with buttered crusty bread on the
side. Use leftover stock to thin out
leftovers.
