The Cookbook Challenge ~ Week 4 Beans

RECIPES:        Habas a la rondeña –Andalusian broad beans with ham

Judias con almendras –Andalusian green beans with almonds

COOKBOOK:  Saffron &Sunshine by Elisabeth Luard

Choices abound with this week’s theme for The Cookbook Challenge.  Green beans,broad beans,black beans,kidney beans,lima beans,soy beans….the list goes on.

Over recent years I have developed a bit of a penchant for broad beans.  They are fussy and fiddly to cook with,but eminently rewarding.  I thought it would be too late in the year to consider them for the challenge;they are in season in spring,and one of the few vegetables that actually sticks to its season.  Imagine my surprise when trawling around Prahran Market I found what must have been the very last pods of the season! I had already found a recipe with green beans that I liked the look of,but I couldn’t resist the lure of the broad beans so I decided to get some and attempt two recipes this week.

Both recipes come from the book Saffron &Sunshine by Elisabeth Luard.  It is a collection of tapas,mezze and antipasti recipes from all over the Mediterranean and is so beautifully written it would appeal to armchair cooks and those who venture into the kitchen.

In the introduction Luard says,“Saffron and sunshine,if they could be distilled and stored in a bottle,would be the very essence of the Mediterranean kitchen.  The first,pound for pound the costliest of the spices,is valued for the subtlety of its dusty perfume as much as for the brilliance of the colour……As for the second,well,that’s the subtlest ingredient of all.  The warmth of the sun is unreproduceable,irreplaceable,longed for in the depths of winter,the only thing which,for all our technology,we cannot but off the shelf.”

I rather like that view.

By sheer coincidence,both dishes I chose are Andalusian.  Andalusia is the region in the south of Spain that stretches from the Costa del Sol in the east across to the border with Portugal in the west. It is where Spain almost touches Morocco.  Anyway,this is a food blog,not a geography lesson so I will return my focus to the food!  Both recipes serve 4-6 as share plates.

Habas a la rondeña
Andalusian broad beans with ham

This recipe called for young broad beans still in their pods,so I adapted it to the more mature ones,by double shelling them.  If you can get (afford!) jamon,then by all means use it.  I don’t think the dish would be let down if you went for prosciutto instead.

750g podded broad beans
4 tablespoons olive oil
50gm chopped jamón serrano (or prosciutto,Parma ham or lean bacon)
1 small glass dry sherry
2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon chopped marjoram or oregano
salt,freshly ground black pepper and a little sugar

Place the podded broad beans in boiling water for a minute then remove and refresh in cold water.  The greenish grey thick skin can now be peeled off.  Pierce the skin with your nail and squeeze the bean out.

Put all the beans in a large saucepan or casserole dish with barely enough water to submerge the beans,the sherry,jamón,and herbs.

Bring to the boil and season with salt and pepper and enough sugar to cut through the acidity of the sherry.  Turn the heat right down and let simmer with the lid half on.  How long you simmer for is going to be up to you if you are using shelled and podded beans.  The beans will take very little time to cook,so if you want them to remain fresh and vibrant and green,you could do as little as 5 minutes.  However,if you want the finished dish to be more stew like,I suggest letting them cook for up to 20 minutes,as I did.

The end result were beans that were just holding their shape in a rich aromatic sauce.  The recipe suggests serving them with a topping of migas (fried breadcrumbs with a little garlic and parsley) but I had them smeared on fresh sourdough. Divine!  I will do this one again.

Judias con almendras
Andalusian green beans with almonds

750gm green beans,topped and tailed and cut into short lengths
olive oil
50gm slivered blanched almonds
1 teaspoon pimentón (paprika)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
juice and zest of one lemon
coarse salt

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and throw in the beans.  Cook them until tender but still green and firm –4-6 minutes.  Drain and pass them under cold water to halt the cooking process.

Heat the live oil in a small frying pan and fry the almonds until golden –a few seconds only or you will burn both the nuts and the oil.  Remove from the heat,stir in the paprika,cumin and zest and tip onto the beans.  Alternatively you could put the beans in the frying pan and toss through.  Season with lemon juice and a little salt.  Perfect balance of texture and flavour and a very easy to make tapa.

So that’s it for Beans.  What sort of bean did you think of first when you read this week’s theme?  What would you have cooked?