Years ago, when I had just moved to Houston, I was a Martha Stewart follower. I don’t know when that changed, maybe the thought of everything being just so didn’t seem like such a ‘good thing’. That was a different life and bad marriage ago; still, when something is good, it is good. I’ve been making this dish for years, it’s probably never the same twice, but the basic principles are always there.

What caught my attention was that she was adding beans to mussels, or the other way around. I had never eaten anything like that, I simply HAD to try it and I’m glad I did. It is an easy enough recipe, but there are a few steps involved. I’ve always made it with dry beans, but I suppose you could sub with canned ones in a pinch.

Navy Beans and Shellfish Stew
Ingredients

For the beans:

• 2 cps dry navy beans
• 1/2 cp thick bacon, in lardons
• 2 green onions, chopped (whites & greens)
• 1 handful of cilantro, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp dry oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• Olive oil
• Water
• 12 oz beer (such as Shiner, Negra Modelo)
• Sea salt

For the shellfish:

• 2 lbs fresh mussels
• 1 lb fresh steamer clams
• 2-3 tbs butter
• Cilantro and green onions (greens only)
• Crusty bread

If you have any concerns regarding how to select and prepare shellfish, I wrote a really helpful post on the subject. All you have to do is click here.

Preparation method:

1. First, the beans, which can be made ahead. You should pick through the beans and remove any debris or damaged beans, then rinse in cool water. You can let them soak in very hot water while you start working on the aromatics. Set aside.
2. Chop the bacon into lardons, short matchsticks, and add them to a preheated Dutch oven, with about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cook until the bacon becomes golden, then add the onions, cilantro and garlic and cook those until softened. Stir in the bay leaf, oregano and cumin.
3. Add the drained beans to the pot and follow them with enough water to completely cover the beans; the water should be about twice the volume of the beans. Remember, most of the liquid will evaporate. Allow it to come to a brisk boil, then lower the temperature to an active simmer and cover with tight-fitting lid. The beans will cook for about an hour to 90 minutes before they are cooked through.
4. While the beans cook, prepare the shellfish. You will need a container large enough to hold all the clams. Add enough water to cover them, stir in about 1 tbsp of sea salt and 2 tbsp of cornstarch. Rinse and scrub the steamers under cool water, then place them the container and let them sit in the fridge for at least 1 hour. This process purges the clams and helps remove some of the grit and sand.
5. For the mussels,scrub with a vegetable brush and pull the little beard they sometimes have. Just as with the clams, let them hang out in water to which cornstarch has been added. Put them back in the fridge until its time to cook them.
6. Once the beans have softened, remove the clams and mussels from the cornstarchy water and rinse with cool water.
7. Drain the beans, but reserve the cooking liquid, add the green onions and cilantro, followed by the shellfish. Stir and cover, turn off the heat and allow it to sit for about 3 to 6 minutes. This will allow the shells to open up. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil as you serve it. Make sure there’s plenty of toasty French bread, you’ll need it to sop up all that goodness.

Cookingly yours,
Anamaris

Tagged as: 101, blogging, cooking, dinner, easy, food, navy beans, seafood, shellfish