Romano Tamani's Beans And Sausage

• 1 stem fresh thyme
• 6 stems fresh parsley
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 2 1/2 pounds fresh cranberry beans, shelled and washed to yield 4 cups
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup celery, minced
• 1/4 cup carrot, minced
• 1/2 cup medium yellow onion, minced
• 3 cloves
• 1/2 beefsteak tomato
• 3/4 pound sweet Italian sausage
• Salt to taste

1. Make a bouquet garni with the thyme, parsley and one of the bay leaves by tying them up together in a bundle.
2. Pour the chicken stock into a large pot, add the bouquet garni and bring to a boil over high heat.
3. Add the beans, return to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, until beans are tender, about 45 minutes.
4. Remove the bouquet garni, and strain the beans.
5. Reserve the liquid.
6. Meanwhile, melt the butter with the olive oil in a pan over high heat.
7. Reduce heat to medium, add the celery, the carrot, the onion, the remaining bay leaf and the cloves, and saute until the vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes.
8. Squeeze the juice from the tomato into the pan before adding the rest of it in one piece.
9. Cook 2 more minutes, remove from heat and remove the cloves and bay leaf.
10. Combine with the beans.
11. Crowd the sausages into a small pan, and cook over medium-low heat, rotating frequently, until brown in the center, about 45 minutes.
12. Break some of the larger pieces of sausage with a spatula before adding them and their juices to the bean mixture, adjusting with salt and about 1 cup of the reserved bean cooking liquid.
13. Serve with polenta.

thyme, parsley, bay leaves, chicken stock, cranberry beans, butter, olive oil, celery, carrot, yellow onion, cloves, tomato, sweet italian sausage, salt

Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/5491 (may not work)