Babbo Break: Borlotto Beans Cooked In the Fireplace

This is a dish I've been wanting to make for some time.  I am obsessed, I think, with brick ovens.  I don't have one, yet.  And just yesterday Heather and I were talking about it and she thinks it would be a fun project to build one together.  (GOOOAAAALLLLL!)

In the meantime, however, I stare longingly into my fireplace wanting to use it to cook.  I can't quite figure out a way to cook a neapolitan pizza in there.  I've been toying with the idea of getting the Steven Raichlin Tuscan Grill, but I'm not there yet.  

But when I was flipping through Chez Panisse Vegetables by Alice Waters, one dish in particular caught my eye.  Beans cooked in the fireplace.  She talks about how the hearth is still used in Tuscany to cook everyday dishes, lending a wonderfully smokey note to any number of dishes.  This recipe doesn't require a Tuscan Grill.  The beans are started on the stove and then the dutch oven is placed in the fireplace near the coals.

Here's the recipe, adapted from Chez Panisse Vegetables:

3 cups dried Borlotto beans or other dried beans

1 large yellow onion

1 medium carrot

1 slice smoked bacon

2 tablespoons duck or goose fat, or olive oil

1 large, ripe tomato or several small canned tomatoes

2 teaspoons of salt

1 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper

1 bay leaf

6 sprigs of thyme

A few leaves of sage and rosemary

6 cups chicken stock

Parsley

3 cloves garlic

1.  Soak the beans overnight.

2.  Start a fire in the fireplace.  Peel and dice the onion and carrot.  Dice the bacon.  Cook the vegetables and bacon in the fat for abut 10 minutes on the stove.

3.  Dice the tomato and add it to the pot.  Cook for a few minutes, then add the beans (drained), salt, pepper, bay leaf, herbs (tied so you can easily lift them out).

4.  Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.

5.  And now the fun part.  Put the pot on the floor of your hearth, near the coals.  Leave uncovered for 90 minutes and stir occasionally to make sure the beans stay moist.   Also, be careful when you stoke the fire or add more wood that ash and embers don't fall into the pot!  (I speak from experience.)  The easiest way to avoid this is to put the lid on the pot whenever you need to play with the fire.

Here's one more picture:

To serve, sprinkle with pecorino and a fruity extra virgin olive oil.

This was everything I hoped it would be.  The first 90 minutes of cooking with the lid off in the fireplace allows the smoke from the fire to really flavor the beans.  And then there's the rosemary, thyme, and sage.  To me, this is a true example of Tuscan peasant cooking.  If you have a fireplace, you must try this dish.  For me, I think I need to order than Tuscan Grill.