Heirloom bean and potato stew

Some heirloom beans, courtesy my buddy Jim by way of his monthly basket of goodies from Chef's Garden. The recipe for bean and potato stew also from them.


Shallot, potatoes, celery root and garlic. (Ignore the onion. I decided against it.)

Sliced, diced and minced.


And a couple of carrots instead of the onion...


Diced.


Some mild Italian sausage, cut into chunks and browned before going into stew.


Garlic and shallot in butter first, for a couple of minutes...


Then the carrots, potatoes and celery root...


Beans, previously soaked for 6 hours, then rinsed and drained...


And from Jim, fresh bay leaves because hey, doesn't everybody have a friend with bay leaves growing in their back yard?


Beans and sausage dumped in pot. Water added...about six cups...along with salt, pepper and a couple of bay leaves.


And into the oven, at 350-degrees, for two hours...


And after two hours, it looks like this.


Some micro parsley and itty-bitty basil, also from Chef's Garden, chopped up and mixed into stew, and...

Thick, rich, heirloom bean and potato stew. Lunch.