Slow-cooked Leg of Pork with Beans - PUBLISHED

https://thewanderlustkitchen.com/crockpot-tuscan-pork-and-beans/

0 - I haven't grown Navy beans, and doubt that a Tuscan cook would use them anyway. Therefore I am starting to experiment with the type of bean. I know that the small red bean traditionally used for Mexican Refried Beans come out firm and creamy, so I started there... and it was the bean available to me for this first attempt! In researching typical beans from Tuscany, I suspect the recipe would have used cannellini, but there are so many possibilities and unknown beans to try!
Beans Of Tuscany
1 - Fantastic! I didn't have the white wine vinegar, and instead of the bread I served it with roasted winter squash (probably kubocha).

2 - Trying this with a Beef Chuck Roast. So far, it's taking much longer than I expected, and as the beans take on liquid and reconstitute, they've pushed the roast up and out of the braising liquid. I checked the original recipe and I can see that I omitted the instruction to boil the beans for 10 minutes, first. With the beef, I would also reduce the amount of salt.

3 - Keeping it at Test 2. Everything is good, beans cook well, pork lovely and tender (used 2.5lbs of shoulder butt steaks to good effect) but it's too salty. Reducing by 1 tsp.

4 - Very successful, but I wonder if there might not be more beans to shift the bean-to-meat ratio. Next time I will increase by a half pound and add 2 cups of broth since that would be half as much again to compensate for the extra beans. I won't increase the flavouring and aromatics though.

5 - Excellent stuff, and there's plenty of flavorful beans left over. The correct amount of broth continues to be a bit of problem as there was far too much this time around, so I will try 5 cups. I used Navy beans because a big bag of them was abandoned here and they cooked magnificently. In the past I have not enjoyed them because the skins were tough and the texture grainy, but this one time, they were amazingly creamy and soft without losing their shape. I have again reduced the amount of salt, just to see if I prefer it - nobody else commented on it being over salted.

6 - This is it. If I can do this again, this is ready to publish. The leftover beans make an excellent base for eggs, beans and toast for lunch.

7 - Publishing it today. I made it cannellini beans and served it without the toasted bread and with lime juice instead of vinegar. I needs vinegar and bread to complete the dish. Not just bread, but toasted and buttered. It is a bit sweet and the cannellini beans are wonderfully creamy, and the crunch and salty/fatty buttered bread is a necessary companion, as is the strong, sharp taste of the vinegar.

1lb 8 oz dried beans (cannellini, Red Mexican, pinto all worked)
5 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
2½ to 3 lbs. pork shoulder (Boston butt) roast or Leg roast
4 large leaves fresh sage, finely minced
1½ tsp salt
1 tsp whole fennel seeds, ground
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, finely minced
5 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced or pressed
1 Tbsp olive oil
Black pepper

Fruit or white wine vinegar for serving

Crusty toasted and buttered bread for eating

1. Boil the beans for 10 minutes.
2. Place the beans, broth, and bay leaves in a large slow cooker (as the beans cook, they push the roast up and can lift the lid of a small slow cooker). Place the pork on top of the beans.
3. Mix together the prepared sage, rosemary, garlic, fennel, salt and olive oil to form a paste. Smear the paste all over the top of the pork.
4. Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for 6 to 8 hours, or until pork is tender and beans are cooked through. Gently shred the pork into chunks.
5. Serve topped with freshly cracked black pepper and butter-toasted crusty bread. Drizzle on a splash of white wine vinegar if desired.