I’ve just had the most spectacular lunch and because the whole thing was made up almost entirely of leftovers, it took me under 12 minutes to make. The ingredients:
Some braised pork and its liquor
Some sweated onions and garlic with rosemary
Some borlotti beans
The last of our cherry tomatoes (I think)(it's unlikely the ones still on the vine will ripen)(any suggestions for what to do with the green ones will be most welcome)
Some superb parsley a friend of mine grew
The end of some bacon I made
Garlic from our allotment
Non-leftovers were: parmesan, pasta and olive oil
I put all of it, except for the parsley, parmesan and olive oil, into a pot with some water. As it came to the boil, I added the pasta. Whilst the pasta was cooking, I blitzed the garlic parsley and olive oil.
Twelve minutes cooking. And about three taking everything out of the fridge
Two things were key in the dish:
Firstly the onions. I have made a habit of cooking a lot of diced onions in garlic and oil and keeping them in the fridge because they add depth to just about everything. And they last forever, or would if they got the chance. If you have induction this is fabulously easy because of the low temperature it can be set to. If gas or electric, you will need to know your hob and how it behaves.
I add a pool of olive oil to a small saucepan then fill it with diced onions, a few whole cloves of peeled garlic and usually one of the harder leafed herbs like rosemary. I put it on high and move it around for about five minutes until the onion has begun to sweat. Then I switch it down to low medium and put the lid on. About 20-30 mins later it will be submerged in its own liquid. I take off the lid and turn the heat down to very low and leave it to cook for about 3 hours. You end up with only a few spoonfuls but as I say it adds depth to anything it is combined with.
The other things that were magical were the borlotti beans. I cooked a dish with them at the weekend and deliberately made way too many.
One of the reasons the beans were so good was because despite coming from a supermarket and in plastic packaging, they were fresh. At least I think they were. They certainly behaved as if they were, cooking in no time.
The sell by date (bring me my gun, will you, Jeeves) was a year from now which is, another reason why I thought they were fresh. I presume this years dried beans will have next years date on them.
However, I certainly don’t know that to be true because, despite my love of food and all the words I write about it, I am almost completely disconnected from the supply chain. That’s why there are never any pictures of me with my arms around a flower or my nose in an animal.
I soaked the beans in water with sage and bay. (I added the herbs at this stage simply because I have so much of it growing in the garden). Two hours later I drained them, covered them in cold water and brought them to the boil quickly. As the the scum started rising, I turned down the heat and simmered for a minute, still skimming scum. Then I drained and rinsed them, put the pot back on with just enought cold water to cover. I added rosemary, thyme, new bay and sage, a sprinkle of smoked pimenton, some peeled garlic cloves and copious olive oil. I also added a bit of salt because it helps with the flavour despite the myth that says it makes them go hard.
As soon as they came to the boil, I turned down the heat to a low simmer and put on a lid. Forty minutes and a couple of top ups of water later, they were done.
About the quantity of water, this is what Harold McGee found out about cooking beans:
And it turns out, contrary to what we would expect, that seeds will actually absorb more water in a smaller volume of water: the less cooking water, the fewer carbohydrates are leached out, and the carbohydrates will take up about 10 times their own weight in water. This means, then, that seeds will seem softer in a given time if cooked in a minimal amount of liquid. So give the seeds enough water both to soak up and to cook in (many a pan bottom has been charred because the cook forgot that beans imbibe), but don't drown them.
Yum!!!!
Thanks for that piece ... useful tip too as cooking cannellini beans today ( minestrone for 24 at suppers this weekend ...)