Frugal Cooking

I’m not sure why I think this recipe is French. Maybe it’s the combination of beef and thyme. It could be the silky sauce that results. It could be how simply yet delicious it is. Anyway, this came out really well, so maybe I should rename it Delicious braised short ribs.

I can’t say enough good things about beans. Beans are cheap, healthy, tasty and I love beans. While the most frugal beans start dried and are usually soaked overnight before boiling for a couple of hours. If you’re trying to put together a meal for pennies a serving, dried beans are a good place to start. Sometimes inspiration hits me and I can’t wait 24 hours for dried beans to be edible. That’s when I turn to canned beans for the following stew recipe.

I actually set out to make a bean and bacon soup. When I checked the pantry I didn’t have any white beans but did have some aduki beans. Why would I have aduki beans, you might ask?

The final texture of the sauce is much finer and silkier than most stews.