# To bean or not to bean.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-bean-or-not-to-bean/607968
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [December 31, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-bean-or-not-to-bean/607968 "2011-12-31T19:20:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-bean-or-not-to-bean/607968/1 "2011-12-31T19:20:55Z")
So I am in a stew quandary. First of all this is not chili, so don’t bother witnessing about beans in chilli.
It’s a long weekend. It is cold outside. These things mean that it is a day to make stew. I was thinking about One of my favorites of my grandmas, Beef stew with white beans and barley. I went to the store to get the rest of the stuff I didn’t have, and pick up some nice crusty peasant bread, and some other stuff looked good to. Well I got back started browning beef, and cutting onions and one thing lead to another, when it occurred to me I had lost focus. My stew currently has neither beans nor Barley(that’s intentional, I just boil that up and put in at the end).
Current stew. Beef chuck(and 2 pork chops that were near end of freezer viability) hunks, onions, carrots, garlic,new potato cubes(quite a lot actually), stock,red wine, spices. Not a bad stew set of components at all but not quite the original goal.
Should I stick to the plan and add the white beans and barley, or will that just fuss up my nice simple grandma style stew? It’s only 15 minutes into the simmer, so not a DEFCON alert yet.
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### Author:  [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-bean-or-not-to-bean/607968/2 "2011-12-31T19:27:04Z")
Forgot to mention, also one can of crushed tomatoes in it already.
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### Author:  [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-bean-or-not-to-bean/607968/3 "2011-12-31T19:28:19Z")
I’d skip them, myself - but that’s because the texture of beans and barley just doesn’t appeal to me, in this context, so that wouldn’t apply to you, who likes it.
That said, the stew sounds fine as it is, even granting that beans and barley could add something, so…maybe ‘how lazy are you feeling’ and ‘did you tell whoever might be eating with you that it was going to be beans and barley stew’ should be your guides…
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### Author:  [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-bean-or-not-to-bean/607968/4 "2011-12-31T20:14:52Z")
Fuck yes, beans and barley. The only question I’d have is to serve the beans separately, as a side, but if you aren’t going to cook them separately, you need to have them in the chili, so you get the full RDA points for beans. Not those little great northerns, either – bigass pinto beans, or maybe possibly some black or cannellini.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-bean-or-not-to-bean/607968/5 "2011-12-31T20:55:58Z")
With all the other vegetation you don’t really need the beans, especially if you had a heavy hand with the potatoes. Definitely add the barley, though.
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### Author:  [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-bean-or-not-to-bean/607968/6 "2011-12-31T21:58:30Z")
Both. That way you get at leats one more meal out of the effort. 😉
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### Author:  [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-bean-or-not-to-bean/607968/7 "2011-12-31T22:13:49Z")
Actually, you could serve your stew “as is” for a couple of days. THEN stretch the leftovers with the beans and barley, using a different bread as an accompaniment.
~VOW
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### Author:  [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2011, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-bean-or-not-to-bean/607968/8 "2011-12-31T22:35:09Z")
Barley for sure. Beef and barley stew is great. I personally would not add beans though.
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### Author:  [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-bean-or-not-to-bean/607968/9 "2011-12-31T23:21:21Z")
Beans and barley are never in my beef stew recipes. Not that I wouldn’t try it with barley, but definitely not beans.
My recipe is basically, potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, season and flour then sear the beef, bay leaf, beef broth. Throw it all in a pot. Meanwhile add a little red wine and broth to the searing pan bring to a boil add to pot.
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### Author:  [@Mister\_Owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Owl)
#### Post date: [January 1, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-bean-or-not-to-bean/607968/10 "2012-01-01T01:23:37Z")
I’d make beef stew one night and a bean and barley dish the next.