Anjarian white bean meat stew

bob loves white beans! His favorite soup as a kid was Campbell's Bean with Bacon and in Italy they do nice side dishes with white beans. But the dr bob cooking team has been holding back on this particular recipe, which apparently was a favorite of Isgouhi's husband Barkev and her dad Aram. It comes right from the Anjarian Cookbook that our team members frequently consult for those home town recipes that are glued into the family heritage. But this cookbook is in Armenian, a language disconnected from all other major languages in the modern world, and one bob has never had the courage to attempt learning. BUT Google translate started accepting image files to scan and translate some time relatively recently. So any page of interest can be roughly translated. The results are not perfect but not bad, and the team members can be relied upon to clarify the glitches.

Our copy of this treasured paperback cookbook put out by a church ladies club in Anjar has all the ingredients penciled in lightly in English! Ani's cousin Maria (pronounced MAHR-iah) back in Anjar did this incredible job without being asked as an act of extended family love when she was a teenager. We had visited together quite a few times pre-COVID, starting way back when American citizens were not really allowed to travel to Lebanon but in the years when kidnapping Americans was becoming a more unnlikely possibility.

bob liked this carnivorous meal. No color or veggies but next time we can fix that with a salad.

ingredients

 3 c dried white beans (Isgouhi used 1 c to increase the meat to bean ratio), says you can also use canned beans)

1/2 kg = 1lb lamb meat (lamb is a Middle East preferred meat), cut into small cubes

1 large onion, chopped

2 T butter

2 T tomato and pepper paste

1 t salt

1/4 t black pepper

3 liters (quarts) water

optional juice of half lemon

instructions

1. If you use dried beans like serious Armenians, clearn them and soak them over night in water. Then drain and clean. Otherwise just open the can.
2. Boil the beans in 2 quarts of water, skimming off the foam as it forms then cover and cook on low heat until cooked. No advice on how to judge this state.
3. Heat the butter in a pressure cooker over low heat and add the onions and meat. Brown the meat.
4. Add the salt and pepper and tomato and pepper paste and a quart of water.
5. Cover and bring to full steam and cook for 15 minutes.
6. Cool, open and add the beans.
7. Cover and cook another 15 minutes uncovered.
8. Remove from heat and add in the lemon juice (Isgouhi modification).
9. Serve with rice pilaf and plain yogurt on the side.

notes

1. Campbell's Bean with Bacon soup.
2. Anjar, the last town on the road from Beirut to Damascaus in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon near the Syrian border. All Armenian, populated by the descendents of the Musa Dagh refugees in 1939. [Google maps Aanjar, Wiki]
3. The Traditional Recipes of Musa Dagh and Anjar by the St. Paul Armenian Apostolic Church Ladies Union, Anjar, Lebanon 2001  [scanned by bob].
4. Isgouhi is bob's mother-in-law and head Armenian specialist on the dr bob cooking team.
5. Illustrations available.