Guernsey Bean Jar recipe

At Cast Iron Farm, we love to collect recipes for Things To Do With Odd Bits. Trotters are the foot and ankle part of a pig, and are is full of gelatin, collagen, and might possibly be the fountain of youth (or so this article claims).. and are also one of the things people ask us about most often when we have it listed on our sale board (what is a TROTTER?!?). There isn’t much meat on a trotter, but with a pressure-cooker or slow-cooker, all the delicious goodness gets transferred into the cooking liquid. Anyone with joint issues should definitely be eating more trotter broth!

This recipe comes highly recommended by one of our wonderful trotter-loving farm-supporters (thanks, Fiona!). Do you have a favourite recipe for trotters or hocks?

Guernsey Bean Jar
Ingredients

  • 1 pigs trotter or shin of beef
  • 200 g (1 cup) haricot beans
  • 200 g (1 cup) butter/lima beans
  • 1 large onion chopped
  • 2 carrots diced
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 cloves of garlic (optional)
  • 1 litre beef stock or water
  • Salt & pepper

Instructions

  • Soak the beans overnight in plenty of cold water.
  • Drain and rinse the beans the following morning, then load them and all the other ingredients in the slow cooker/crock pot.
  • Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or high for 5-6 hours or until the beans are soft.
  • Switch off the slow cooker and remove the trotter and/or shin of beef. Remove the meat from both, discarding the bones, skin or gristle.
  • Pop the meat back in with the beans, stirring well and check seasoning adding more salt & pepper as necessary.
  • Serve with crusty bread and butter.