Category Archives: beans

The Magic of Beans

I’m a bit of a bean freak and each year we grow a variety of beans in our garden. French beans, borlotti beans, angel beans, coca beans, dwarf beans…. and most years each of these produces enough beans for us to enjoy but no way overwhelm us but the runner beans exceed all expectations. They love the Irish climate.

Picking them is like magic. You walk one way along the row, picking beans until you think you’ve got them all then you turn around and walk back the other way and they reappear. Next thing you have a bucketful. 

When I was a kid we ate a lot of runner beans simply cooked as a side vegetable. This would go on for weeks. Lots of beans and no variation in cooking method. I like runner beans but they did lose their appeal.

We now cook them in many different ways but the preparation always has to begin with stringing the beans. There is a ‘string’ on either side of a runner bean which needs to be removed. My mum used to do this with a paring knife which is effective but a vegetable peeler is faster and more fun. Just top and tail the bean then zip down each side with a vegetable peeler and the string falls away.

Here’s a recipe for pancakes that I found in my odd recipe file when searching for runner bean ideas. It’s adapted from a recipe by Claire Thompson which was in the Guardian years ago. The pancakes have a definite Asian hum and make an easy and tasty treat which I’d happily eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I made this recipe early one morning to check it out and it was like having breakfast in India.

Runner Bean Pancakes

350g runner beans

170g gram flour

300mls chilled sparkling water

1tsp salt

1tsp turmeric

1tsp garam masala

1-2 chillies

2-3 cloves garlic

4 spring onions

1tsp nigella seeds

1tsp black mustard seeds

Oil to fry

Put a large pot of water to boil. Add a little salt

String the beans then slice thinly on the diagonal. When the water boils add the beans then cook for 2 minutes. Drain and refresh the beans in cold water to stop them from cooking further then drain and put aside.

Peel and chop the garlic and chop the chillies.

Chop the spring onions. Keep a few green bits aside for the garnish

Sift the gram flour, turmeric and garam masala into a bowl then  stir in the salt and the sparkling water 

Heat a small frying pan, add little oil, ¼ tsp mustard seeds and ¼ tsp nigella seeds then enough enough runner beans to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook on a medium high heat for two minutes then add ¼ of the chopped garlic, ¼ of the spring onions and ¼ of the chillies. Cook for 2 minutes more then pour over enough batter to just cover the beans. Put a few extra beans in any gaps. Cook on a medium heat for 3  minutes or until lightly browned then flip the pancake. The easiest way to flip this pancake is to hold the pan with dry tea towel, put a small plate on top of the pancake then flip it over onto the plate then slip the pancake back into the pan. Cook the other side until golden then put on one side. Repeat  the procedure 3 more times.

Delicious hot or cold with fresh tomato salsa on the side

Fresh Tomato and Chilli Salsa

2 big ripe tomatoes

1 small red onion

1-2 chillies

Juice ½ lemon

A small bunch fresh coriander

Salt

Cut the tomato in half and remove most of the seeds then dice quite small

Peel the onion and chop very finely

Peel and chop the garlic finely

Chop the coriander.

Put all the ingredients into a bowl. Mix gently and season with a little salt


Winter Garden Soup

Each evening I go to the garden to give the chickens their afternoon tea. It’s pretty slim pickings for them now that the shop is closed so their tea isn’t a gourmet selection anymore but fortunately the chickens are still tuned in to the universe and their inner egg radars have turned back on. It is amazing how quickly the incremental increase of daylight brings on the eggs so to thank them I prowl around the garden looking for green things to supplement their diet.

It’s surprising what’s out there. It’s not growing very quickly – more like suspended animation but there’s always something. Yesterday evening I came down to the house with a head of fennel, some leeks and a bunch of kale – I soaked some cannellini beans and we were set up for today’s lunch.

Soaking dried beans for this recipe is optional as canned beans also do a good job. The bonus of cooking dried beans is the cooking liquid makes a great base for the stock. A Parmesan rind is a definite bonus if you have one. I didn’t this time but I did find some pumpkin that needed a home while I was searching the fridge which was great for the colour scheme.

Winter Garden Soup

1 onion

100mls olive oil

1-2 stems celery

Parmesan rind – optional

1 bulb fennel

2 leeks

a bunch of kale

250g diced pumpkin

200g dried cannellini beans or 1-2 cans

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

1 litre vegetable stock or stock plus bean water

salt and pepper

If you’re using dried beans soak them in cold water overnight. The next day drain them, put them in a saucepan and cover them with water. Bring to the boil then simmer gently, covered with a lid for – now this is the mystery bit as it depends how old the beans were – anything between 40 mins and 2 hours. I keep checking. When they are cooked take them off the heat. Drain them and reserve the cooking liquid for the stock

Peel and chop the onion. Heat a medium/large saucepan, add the olive oil and the onion, give it a stir then turn the heat to medium.

Cut the celery in strips lengthwise then chop into a dice. Stir in with the onions.

If you have a Parmesan rind add it now.

Wash the fennel, cut it into half then slice thinly. Add to the pot. Season with a little salt and give it a stir.

You should be able to hear the vegetables sizzling. If you can’t increase the heat.

Trim the leeks – don’t cut all the green bit off, just the scraggy bits. Rinse well under running water to remove all dirt then slice into 1cm pieces. Add to the pot and stir.

Dice the pumpkin into 1cm cubes . Strip the rosemary from the woody stem and roughly chop. Add to the pot

Wash the kale then strip from the stem and chop into thin ribbons. Season with a little more salt and stir well.

Cook until the vegetables melt down. This sweetens the vegetables and enhances the flavours. Add the vegetable stock/bean water then bring to the boil. Stir in the beans then simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper. If you have used a parmesan rind take it out and discard (chickens love them!).

I like to give the soup a quick mash to encourage creaminess but don’t overdo it.


Rapid Fire Supper

Sunday evenings are a bit of loose cannon in our culinary week – no designated cook nor plan.

Usually whoever is the hungriest acts first.

Last night I spotted a small bowl of borlotti beans on the counter that had been picked a few days previously. It was too small to have any real purpose but too valuable to waste. I put them in pot with a bashed clove of garlic, covered them with water and set them to cook. As they were fresh this only took twenty minutes. When they were cooked I drained them, dressed them with olive oil and little salt and then checked out the fridge.

I found a bag of mixed mushrooms from the farmers market- shiitake, oyster and portabello and then I discovered a tub of Glenilen cremefraiche – surely the creamiest and tastiest. Hmmm…. a plan was beginning to form.

Here’s what we had. Fast , comforting and tasty – if little blonde – it was on the table in ten minutes.

Serves 2

Borlotti, Mushrooms and Orzo

400g cooked borlotti beans – or one can drained and rinsed

200g orzo

300g mixed mushrooms

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

2 heaped tablespoons creme fraiche

a little chopped parsley

Put a saucepan of water to boil to cook the pasta

Slice the mushrooms and chop the garlic

When the water boils add a heaped teaspoon of salt and the orzo. Cook for 5 -7 minutes – check the packet for cooking time

Heat a large sauté pan. Add the butter and olive oil and as soon as the butter melts add all the mushrooms and stir well. Keep the heat high and stir the mushrooms every minute until they almost begin to brown. Add the borlotti beans then stir in the chopped garlic, cook for one minute longer. Take the pan off the heat.

At this stage the orzo should be cooked. Drain it and add it to the pan.

Stir in the creme fraiche and parsley and you’re ready to go


Time for Chickpeas

This is a recipe from the ‘live to be one hundred’ collection. Revithnos is a chickpea soup from Sifnos in Greece.  It’s cooked slowly using just a few key ingredients – chickpeas, onion, olive oil, lemon and bay leaves. The slow cooking makes the chickpeas velvety soft in an emulsion of olive oil and onion which is brightened up with a squeeze of lemon juice. I seldom cook this dish as it takes a long time to cook but time is something we have plenty of at the moment. Although don’t confuse taking time with having to do a lot as after the initial cooking of the onions and bringing everything to the boil this more or less looks after itself.

Today’s revithnos did take a long time, especially as our Irish bought chickpeas must have been sitting in a warehouse for months if not years. I soaked them for 48 hours then cooked then for five hours by which time we were hungry and the dish was not ready so we resorted to blasting them in the pressure cooker for 10 minutes. They were good, softer would have been better but our appetites got in the way of culinary excellence.  Next time I will seek out fatter and younger chickpeas but I still love the simplicity of this dish and even old chickpeas make a richly satisfying  one pot wonder

Here’s the recipe although the cooking times are variable and it’s also possible to cook this entirely stovetop – or blast it in the pressure cooker if your hunger gets the better of you.

 

 

Revithnos – Chickpea Soup

 

350g chickpeas

150mls olive oil

2 large onions

2-4 cloves garlic

1 -2 bay leaves

big strip of orange peel – skin only

lemon juice

salt and pepper

water

a handful of parsley

 

Soak the chickpeas over night then drain well.

Peel the onions and garlic and chop finely.

Put the olive oil into a heavy pot and heat gently. Add the chopped onion and cook until the onions melt down but don’t let them brown. Stir in the chopped garlic and cook for a further two minutes then add the chickpeas , orange peeland bay leaf. Stir everything together for a few minutes then add enough water to cover everything by 2-3cm. Bring to the boil, reduce to a low simmer and cover with a tight fitting lid. Cook for one to one and a half hours or until the chickpeas are soft.

Stir in the juice of a lemon , add a little more water if it looks like it’s getting dry and season with a little salt. Pop the pot into a low oven , 150c, oven for an hour.

Serve with a little chopped parsley. 

 


Rocket Beans

One good thing the coronavirus has given me is some time. It all felt very stressful in the beginning but now with everything closing down, not having to organise work or rushing here and everywhere, everything has slowed down. I’m also avoiding wall to wall reportage, just listening to enough news to keep up, and thinking of all the things I can get done now that I have some time.

Funny how I want to fill it!

This is the first recipe since last year Halloween!

And here is what we had for dinner last night…..

Beans take time to cook – even if you open a can, they always benefit from a little bathing with the other ingredients.

This recipe is for beans cooked with melted down onion and fennel, cooked until just before they caramelise. I put in a Parmesan rind at the same time and this creates a creamy unctuous side to the whole affair but leave it out if you don’t have one or want a vegan version.

This recipe began as Beans and Greens in my repertoire but it was dark last night when I began to cook. Too late to pick greens but I had some rocket in the fridge that I made into pesto which I drizzled over  when serving. We ate the beans with chippy potatoes on the side.

Below are the instruction for cooking dried beans but last night I opened a jar!

 

Rocket Beans

150g dried cannellini beans or a can or jar drained and rinsed.

1 – 2 onions

2 stems celery

1-2 small fennel

2-3 cloves garlic

parmesan rind (optional)

olive oil

salt and pepper

1 glass white wine

 

 

100g rocket – chopped

1 dip pine nuts

100=150mls olive oil

1-2 cloves garlic- peeled and chopped

A squeeze of lemon juice

50g grated parmesan

 

Soak the cannellini beans overnight in cold water.

Bring enough water to cover the beans to the boil then drain and rinse the beans, tip them into the pot and bring back to the boil. When the beans are boiling turn to a low simmer and cook gently for 40 minutes then check them to see if they are tender, they will probably need more time so if they need longer cooking check every ten minutes until the beans are cooked. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid.

Whilst the beans are cooking, peel and chop the onions. Heat a saucepan, add enough olive oil to cover the bottom then add the onions. When the onions are sizzling reduce the heat and cook for five minutes.

Wash the celery and chop into four strips lengthwise then chop into a small dice and add to the onions.

Wash the fennel, chop in half then slice thinly and add to the pot.

Season with a little salt and freshly ground pepper – this will help the vegetables to melt down and add the Parmesan rind if you have one.

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Cook the vegetables gently until they are are soft and translucent, this will take 20-30 minutes, then peel and chop the garlic and stir in. Cook for another five minutes then add a glass of white wine, let it bubble up then add the drained beans and enough cooking liquid to just cover the beans. Use water or stock if you have opened a can/jar.  Season with salt and pepper then simmer the beans for 20-30 minutes. The liquid will reduce  – the beans shouldn’t be swimming in liquid when served but keep enough to have the beans sitting in a little sauce.

To make the pesto put all the ingredients into a jug and buzz with a handheld blender.

Adjust the consistency and season with a little salt

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To serve, put a ladleful of beans onto each plate and drizzle over a little pesto

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Summery Courgette, Green Beans and Pea Salad

August really is the month in Ireland for home grown Mediterranean‘ vegetables although in fact they are actually fruits! Tomatoes, aubergine peppers and courgettes are sun loving fruits that are eaten as vegetables. The sun loving being the reason they take all summer to ripen.

Our courgettes have been taking their time. We’re still hovering around the plants wondering whether there are any ready to pick, which is in fact a good thing. Baby courgettes are the sweetest and tastiest and delicious in salads.

We’ve been eating a courgette, green bean, basil and pea salad – having an abundance of green beans at hand and cheating with peas.  It’s delightful combination of textures and summery flavor

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The peas and beans are blanched but the courgettes are raw but don’t seem so. They are salted and rinsed before being dressed which gives them a crisp but tender bite .

 

Check out the farmers markets and local growers  as courgettes grown close to home will be fresher and taste better. If you can find little yellow ones they’ll be great for the colour scheme but green ones taste equally as good.

 

Courgette, Green Bean and Pea salad

 

250g French beans

1-2 small courgettes

200g fresh peas -= frozen is good

handful fresh basil

100mls olive oil

zest 1 lemon

juice of half or to taste

1 clove garlic

1/2tsp dijon mustard

salt and pepper

 

Slice the courgettes thinly, sprinkle with salt and toss well.

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Put aside in a bowl or colander for at least 15minutes.

Top and tail the beans. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add a half tsp salt and the beans. Cook for 4 minutes then lift out of the water and drop into a bowl of cold water. Let them cool then drain

Bring the water back to the boil then add the peas. Cook for 1 minute the drain and drop into cold water to cool. Drain and shake off excess water.

Rinse the courgettes, take a handful at a time and squeeze to remove the water. Repeat until all the courgettes are done

Put the courgettes, french beans and peas into a bowl, roughly chop the basil and add then season with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. Grate the lemon zest on top of the vegetables

Peel and chop the garlic. Whisk the garlic, lemon juice and Dijon mustard together then whisk in the olive oil. Season with a little salt

Gently toss the dressing with the vegetables. Add more salt or lemon to taste.

 

 

Lettercollum Kitcheb Project are hosting two events for the Taste of West Cork festival in September. The first on Friday 6thSeptember is ‘Dinner from the Garden’, a seven course tasting menu shared around the kitchen table at Lettercollum and the second is “A Taste of Valencia’, tapas and paella accompanied by music and flamenco dancing in O’Donovans hotel on Tuesday 10thSeptember. Tickets for both events are available at the shop or by email.

 


Moros y Cristianos, a recipe from Cuba

This recipe comes from Cuba, it’s not exactly a culinary hotspot but the music is wonderful. Sitting in the Caribbean, this fiercely independent island is big – more than one thousand kms long and more or less one hundred and fifty kms wide, surrounded by picture postcard sea which produces an abundance of fish, prawns and lobsters
We landed into Havana, a city of crumbling elegance and lethal footpaths.

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We stay in casa particulares – Cuban B and Bs. These rooms in private houses are super simple and clean, furnished with furniture of the fifties and sixties or before. The hospitality is fantastic and we have travelled from one casa to the next through the owners network of connections. The casas provide breakfast too. It was pretty paltry in Havana but once in the countryside there’s plenty of fruit and eggs. The people are super friendly and everyone has time to chat. Most houses have a porch where the family hangs out and rocking chairs are the norm.

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Shops don’t exist as we know them but there are vendors selling bananas and pineapples and cubby holes in the front of the houses selling pizzas and pastries.
Finding a bus is a mystery but there are plenty of taxis – Chevrolets , Cadillacs, Buicks, horse drawn carriages and cycle taxis in the towns. Getting around takes time, we have been travelling by taxi collectivos – shared taxis, much easier to organise than the bus and the same price.

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KInd of fun as you never know who you might meet and what sort of vehicle it might be. We started one journey in an air con car feeling very chuffed with ourselves only to be decanted halfway into a little truck that bumped along for the next six hours.  There’s one main highway which is relatively well maintained but off of that the roads are well worn.

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We headed west out of Havana to Vinales, up to the hills, where horses are one of the main modes of transport,the fields are lush with tobacco, coffee, fruit and vegetables then we went east to Trinidad, an old sugar plantation town We fell in love with Trinidad with it’s cobbled streets, colourful houses, mojitos and music everywhere.

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Each evening the Plaza Mayor hosts different musicians and everyone hops up salsa dancing. There’s also the bonus of a beach, admittedly 14kms from the town but we rented bicycles and headed out to swim each day before hitting the town for the night. This is where our plan to traverse the entire island fell apart. The thought of more twelve hour bus journeys plus the return was easy to talk ourselves out of and we ended up behaving like Cubans and taking time to enjoy each day at a leisurely pace.
At the moment we are in Cienfuegos with it’s beautiful French colonial architecture, known as the Paris of Cuba but nothing like that in size..

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We’ll wind our way back to Havana via Santa Clara, a key town of the revolution  (where Che Guevara was finally laid to rest) then back to Havana to catch the famous ballet before travelling home.
We resisted travel to Cuba for along time as we’re so preoccupied with food but we are now totally smitten and do you know what, arroz y frijoles – beans and rice- the national dish isn’t too bad and you can survive quite healthily on this diet especially if you put prawns, lobster or a fried egg on top!

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Arroz y Frijoles – Beans and Rice

150g black beans
300g long grain white rice
1 onion – peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic – peeled and finely chopped
1 tbs oil
Salt

Cook the black beans in plenty of water – they will take about 45 minutes. Check the beans are tender then drain, reserving the cooking liquid. Measure the cooking liquid and make it up to 450mls with water. Put the rice into a saucepan together with the cooked beans and measured cooking liquor and a good pinch of salt. Bring to the boil then cover with a lid, turn to the lowest simmer and cook for a further 20 minutes.
Fry the onion gently in a little oil until soft and translucent then stir in the garlic and cook for a few minutes longer. When the rice is cooked mix the onion and garlic through and you’re ready to go.
Recipe given to me by Aliente in Vinales


Fatty Chickpeas

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I have had a packet of dried chickpeas in my pantry for months. A packet that i carried all the way home from Spain but never got around to cooking. Mostly because I forgot to soak them. They are big chickpeas – bigger than the ones we can buy in Ireland by far –  I’d say double in size and delicious when cooked. It may sound mad to get excited about chickpeas but soaked overnight and cooked for 30 minutes they are ready to go, unctuous and creamy, which is quite something. The one’s we buy locally  take three or four times as long  to cook and are like little bullets.

It’s still the holiday season here and we have been valiantly making our way through our veg box which together with the pre-cooked chickpeas offered numerous possibilities for dinner. The winning dish was also a lazy dish. It didn’t take very much effort, more the availability to give the odd stir.

Take time sautéing the veg, they will become sweet and more flavoursome.

 

Chickpea Supper Pot with Almond and Basil Picada

1 onion – peeled and chopped

100mls olive oil

1 carrot – peeled and diced

1 small bulb fennel- sliced into skinny wedges

2 stems celery – diced

3 cloves garlic- peeled and chopped

2 ripe fat tomatoes or 1 can tomatoes – chopped

1 glass white wine (optional)

200mls chickpea liquor or water

2 bay leaves

a handful of parsley

salt and pepper

 

Heat a frying pan or skillet. Add the olive oil and the chopped onions, give them a stir and when they are sizzling  season with a little salt. Stir in the fennel, celery, bay leaf and carrots, give a stir and when the veg are all sizzling season with a little salt then turn the heat to medium/low. Cook, stirring now and then, gently sizzling for ten minutes. Add the chopped garlic then continue cooking for five minutes.

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Add the chopped tomatoes and white wine, bring to the boil then turn to a simmer for ten minutes

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Stir in the chickpeas and cook for a further ten minutes. Add a little chickpea cooking liquor or water if needed. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the chopped parsley

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We ate this with a little picada/pesto to drizzle over and crusty bread

Picada

1 small slice bread, crusts removed and cubed

olive oil

15-20 blanched almonds

1 clove garlic

small handful soft green herbs – I used basil but parsley or coriander would work too

salt

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Heat a small pan, add enough olive oil to cover the bottom and the bread cubes, fry until they begin to go golden then add the almonds. Cook for another couple of minutes.

Putvthe bread/almond mix in a processor together with a clove of garlic then buzz to a crumb.

Add the herbs then drizzle in enough olive oil to make the cicada move. Season with a pinch of salt

 

 

 

 

 


Bring on the Beans

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The shorter, cooler days of November give me the opportunity to indulge my bean and lentil obsession. Beans and lentils grow where the climate is warm and sunny yet I’m inclined to eat them more often when it’s cold. A bowl of thick, creamy lentils or beans is an inexpensive source of protein which will slowly release energy to fuel your body and comfort your soul.

 

Dal Markhani is a recipe from the north of India, which uses both lentils and beans served in a sauce of fragrant spices. Markhani is a sauce of butter, tomato and cream but in order to slot this recipe into my ‘live to be one hundred’ recipes file I have used coconut milk and vegetable ghee/oil instead of the dairy but feel free to swop it back.

 

The original recipe also uses black urad dal, a type of black mung bean, which takes an overnight soaking and then three or for hours to cook. Healthy as urad dal might be it’s not really in synch with our fast paced lives so they have been dumped in my recipe in favour of black beluga lentils, which are one of the gems of the lentil family. Black, round and robust they cook in 20-25 minutes and keep their shape whilst doing so. No mealy mass even if you forget them and decide to walk the dog whilst cooking.

 

There’s a fast version and a slow version for this dish, both have their merits but I’m going for the fast version and opening a can of beans. The lentils I cook from scratch.

 

Dal Makhani

 

1 large onion

50g vegetable ghee or oil

25g fresh ginger

3 cloves garlic

2 cardamom pods

3 cloves

2tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp turmeric

1 can tomatoes

½ tsp salt

1 can kidney beans

200g beluga lentils

150mls coconut milk

chopped fresh coriander to serve

 

Put the lentils into a saucepan with three times the volume of water. Bring to the boil then simmer for 20-25 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Put aside.

Peel the onion then chop finely.

Heat a medium saucepan then add the vegetable ghee or oil and the onions. Cook on a medium heat without browning until they soften.

Peel and chop the ginger and garlic then stir into the onions. Bash the cardamom pods with the back of a wooden spoon so they crack open then add to the pot together with the cloves. Cook gently for a couple of minutes then add the ground coriander, ground cumin and turmeric. Stir and gently cook for a few minutes more then stir in the tomatoes and salt. Allow the sauce to come to the boil then simmer gently for 30 minutes.

Drain and rinse the kidney beans.

Add the beans, the beluga lentils and residual cooking liquid to the tomato sauce. Cook gently for 15-20 minutes. Stir in the garam masala and most of the coconut milk then taste . It’ll probably need a little more salt. If it’s too thick thin with a little water

Serve with chopped coriander and a swirl of coconut milk to garnish.

Eat with rice or mop up with naan bread.