Goat and Tepary Bean Camp Stew
Goat, hominy, and tepary beans in one pot, with a hit of citrus and sage at the end.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 69
- protein
- 45 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 120 min
- total time
- 135 min
- water
- 1400 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Dutch oven
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Goat leg or shoulder, cubed | 2 lb | bone-in adds body to the broth |
|---|---|---|
| Dried tepary beans | 1 cup | soaked overnight at home, or 3/4 cup cooked and vacuum-sealed |
| Dried hominy | 1 cup | or 1 cup cooked hominy |
| Dried wild onion bulbs or dried ramp leaves | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried sage | 1 tsp | |
| Dried orange peel | 1/2 tsp | a few scrapes of fresh zest if you have an orange along |
| Red pepper flakes | 1/4 tsp | |
| Lard or cooking oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Tequila | 2 tbsp | |
| Kosher salt | 2 tsp, to taste | |
| Water | 6 cups | |
| Flatbread | 4 pieces | for mopping; contains wheat |
Method
- Soak the beans and hominy overnight in the pot, in cold water, unless you brought them precooked. Drain in the morning.
- Heat the lard in the pot over the fire and brown the goat in batches. Crowd it and it steams instead of browning.
- Return all the meat, add the tequila, and scrape the bottom until the pot is clean.
- Add the beans, hominy, dried onion, red pepper, and 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then pull the pot off direct flame and hold a low simmer for about two hours, until the meat pulls apart and the beans are soft. Top up with water as it drops.
- Stir in the sage, orange peel, and salt in the last ten minutes. Any earlier and the sage goes flat.
- Serve with flatbread. The broth is the point, so keep it loose.
This is a long-simmer stew built around cheap, tough meat and two things that take forever to cook: dried tepary beans and hominy. That combination is why it belongs at a car camp or a basecamp with a real fire, not on a canister stove where fuel is measured out. Cook the beans and hominy at home if you want it to be a weeknight-length dinner instead of an afternoon project.
The original leans on fresh barrel cactus fruit for a sour edge that thickens the broth. That is not something you can pack, so the sour comes from dried orange peel and a shot of tequila added at the deglaze, and the body comes from the beans breaking down. Sage and dried onion go in dry because both hold their flavor in a bag better than anything fresh will hold in a pack. Salt at the end, after the beans soften, or they stay tough.
Packing
Beans, hominy, and the dried onion go in one bag. Sage, orange peel, red pepper, and salt in a small tin. The goat rides frozen in the cooler and thaws on the drive. Tequila in a flask.
Variations
- Lamb shoulder works the same way and is easier to find.
- Precook the beans and hominy at home and the stew drops to about forty minutes.
- No tequila: a splash of vinegar at the end does similar work.
https://foragerchef.com/desert-stew