Recipe of the Week; BEANS, BEANS THE MAGICAL FRUIT!

Here's a little poem about beans I wrote:

Beans, beans so easy to cook!

Scroll down through this post, and just take a look!

From pinto to navy, black beans to white,

You'll find any kind of bean for your dinner tonight!

Impressed, are you? So few foods inspire me to wax poetic, but beans... well there is something special about them. Even Jack used one to grow his magical beanstalk!

Why my sudden interest in beans? There are a few reasons. I have to credit Jamie Oliver for the inspiration for this recipe post. While I'm offering my gratitude to Mr. Oliver, I suppose I better also say thanks to the folks and Bean-o as well. (My husband thanks you, too.)

The other night I just couldn't sleep. I was tossing and turning, and to keep my husband from kicking me out of the bed, I got up and went downstairs to lay on the couch. I flipped on the tube (the utmost of my enemies) and I started watching the Cooking Channel. Have you seen it yet? So far, I like it. They have Jamie Oliver! Oh how I've missed him since his departure from the Food Network!

I've always been quite fascinated with Jamie At Home, and what do you know- there he was, at home and cooking with dried beans! "Humble", he called them. He slow cooked-soaked beans with a bunch of herbs, he says is with the "H". I think I'll start to as well. Cheerio!

So, thank you Jamie, for reminding me just how refreshing humble beans can be. He also doesn't pronounce the "H" in "humble. "Umble beans with Herbs." Go on, say it with your best British accent. Fun, isn't it? Those Brits- I love 'em.

Another reason for posting a recipe for beans is because they are a great, any season comfort food. Soaked beans can be cooked in the crock-pot, which is my best friend when it's too hot to turn on the oven.

Additionally, I ate a lot of beans growing up. (That explains a lot!) Mom grew them, mainly green and yellow string beans. She makes a killer green bean soup with potatoes and sour cream, I will certainly post that recipe during "bean-picking"season, which us around August.

Mom would also buy dried beans by the bushel, I remember walking through the old Amish country stores filling up little paper sacks with scoops of different kinds of beans. I love to run my hand through a bin of dried beans. Do it sometime.

One of my favorite dinners growing up was a simple Lima bean dish. She would slow-cook a big pot of large, Lima beans all day. (If she was in a rush, she'd open some canned beans and heat them through. I think they're typically referred to as butter beans. They'll certainly suffice in a pinch.) The only trick to this dish is you have to have homemade white bread. Store bought simply won't do.

Lay a slice of buttered bread on a plate, ladle a scoop of warm cooked beans right over the bread. If you're really feeling dangerous, squirt just a little ketchup over the beans. It may sound odd to some, but I would prefer this over a fussy four-course dinner through the week any time. If only my husband wasn't such a meat-a-tarian, I'd make this a few times a month, for sure!

Well, without further adieu, I bring you Mr. Oliver's Humble Home-Cooked Bean recipe, in his own words:

INGREDIENTS

11 ounces dried cranberry or cannelloni beans, soaked in cold water for at least 12 hours*

3 cloves garlic, unpeeled

a few sprigs of thyme

s sprig of fresh rosemary

3 bay leaves

1 stick of celery, trimmed

1 small potato, peeled and halved

one small to medium sized tomato

extra-virgin olive oil

red wine vinegar

a few sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

4 slices sourdough bread

12 scallops

12 slices pancetta or bacon

skewers, or fresh rosemary sprigs

lemon

Drain the soaked beans, then give them a good wash. Place them in a deep pot and cover with cold water. Throw in the garlic (whole), herb sprigs, bay leaves, celery stick, potato and tomato. Place the beans on the heat and slowly bring to a boil. Cover and simmer very gently for 45 minutes to an hour, until soft and cooked nicely. Skim if necessary, topping up with boiling water from a kettle if needed.

When beans are cooked, drain them in colander, reserving enough of the cooking water to cover them halfway up wen put back in the pot. Remove garlic, herbs, celery, potato and tomato from the beans. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins and pinch the skin off the tomato. Put the garlic, tomato, and potato on a place, mash them with a fork and stir them back into the beans. Season well with a little salt and pepper, and pour three generous glugs** of extra-virgin olive oil and a few splashes of vinegar. Stir in the parsley and serve on some toasted sourdough bread.

Wrap a slice of the pancetta or bacon around each scallop. Thread them onto a skewer or sturdy sprig of rosemary and fry them on each side in a little olive oil until golden. Spoon the delicious warm home-cooked beans onto your plate and top with the scallops. Serve with a fresh squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of olive oil and any juices from the pan. Brilliant!

*Cranberry beans may be known by several names. In Italy, they are called borlotti, and New Englanders may refer to them as shell beans. They've also been referred to as French horticultural beans.

**Your guess is as good as mine when it comes to a "glug" measurement. Remember, I borrowed this recipe from Jamie Oliver. If I had to guess, I say maybe about the tablespoon? Yeah, that sounds like a glug to me.