Cannellini Méditerranée

Mediteranean Medley



As a personal chef I'm always on the lookout for dishes that will be new to my clients, but not too new. Dishes that are somewhat exotic, but not too exotic. Dishes that are easy for me to prepare, but don't seem easy to prepare. And above all, dishes that freeze well. A couple of years ago I came up with one such dish.

I didn't start out to make something suitable for my clients, instead I had an urge for cassoulet but didn't want to take the time to make it. True cassoulet involves a multitude of ingredients, a lot of separate steps, and anywhere from one to two days (I even ran across a recipe once that took four days to prepare). Cassoulet is well worth the effort, but isn't a task taken on lightly. I wondered if I could make something more quickly that, although not up to the standard of a great cassoulet, would still be good. I looked up several cassoulet recipes and developed the recipe below. It far exceeded my expectations.

It's only dinner, but cooking makes honest people of liars, realists of dreamers, and well-ordered minds of chaotic and impulsive ones. ~ Molly O'Neill

When cooking for myself I seldom repeat dishes. I have a small repertoire of favorites that I might fix at most twice in a year: tuna casserole, jambalaya, fondue, corned beef and cabbage, gazpacho… But for the most part there are just so many things I haven't tried yet that I avoid repeating myself. However, this bean dish has become a staple not only for my clients, but for my own table. It meets all the criteria for my clients (and is inexpensive to boot) and it's deeply satisfying to eat.

Don't think of this as a quick cassoulet, enjoy it as a good bean recipe in its own right. It's richly savory, has a nice herbal background, and the red pepper gives it a nice bounce. It's not too heavy for summer eating. Serve it with a hearty red wine, focaccia, and a green salad with a simple vinaigrette. (Note: I've published this recipe before, but it's so good I wanted to do so again.)

Cannellini Méditerranée

2 19 oz cans cannellini beans
1/2 lb Italian sausage — cut into 1/2" slices
2 tbsp olive oil
1 md. yellow onion — diced
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 smoked turkey leg — skin removed and diced
2 garlic cloves — minced
3 tbsp tomato paste
2 sprigs fresh sage
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 bay leaves
healthy pinch of red pepper flakes
1 - 2 c chicken broth

Heat oven to 300F.

Brown the Italian sausage in olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute).

Add all reamining ingredients to the pot along with just enough chicken broth to bring the liquid level with the other ingredients.

Cover the pot and place it in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the cover and continue cooking for another hour until a few beans began to split and release some starch into the broth for thickening.

Note: this is one of those dishes that improves with age.

Technorati: Food | recipe | beans | cannellini

Read more...

Paisano: Lamb Cannellini

Paisano: Lamb Cannellini



The Paisano sat across from me smirking into his wine. We'd gotten into a political argument over dinner and he was quite sure he had "won" the discussion. But the fact is Paisano has no more familiarity with the rules of logic than he does of playing a violin (and I've heard him attempt that). But if he proves a point to his own satisfaction, then it is, "Phhit! Proven!" Stephen Colbert is more capable of rational thought than the old man.

Phitt himself! He needs to trim his beard or shave, one. He looks like a homeless monkey. Yes, I know, an ad hominen attack, but he spent the evening attacking me and refusing to examine the facts of the issue. He says I'm effete, only he thinks "effete" means the same thing as "feminine" but without brains. He spends far too much time hanging around rich people and listening to their insular take on reality.

The discussion began with a remark I made about health care, and Paisano's response was, "Don't get sick." I averred and pointed out that getting sick isn't always a matter of choice, I offered being involved as a passenger in an automobile accident as an example.

His response was, "You just use what you have." I said, "But you have to have something." And, because we were in the kitchen and he had just complained I had nothing to eat, I thought I had won the point. Nope.

He glared at me. Opening the refrigerator again, he pulled out a plastic tub with some leftover kale. Rummaging further, he sighed. I smiled, "What's the problem?" I asked. He ignored me and opened the freezer, quickly discovering a lamb leg bone with some meat on it (a leftover from a cooking class). He pulled out a plastic tub labeled, "Duck Stock." He said, "Beans. You got beans?" I had canned beans, cannellini. He said, "My friend, you're gonna eat."

He thawed the lamb in hot water (unimpressed when I told him that wasn't safe) and the duck stock in a pot on the stove. He pulled down my chicken brick (a clay cooker), something I hadn't used in years, scrubbed it out, and soaked it with water. Complaining only that I didn’t have any wine in the house, he actually reached into his own pocket for money and sent me out to buy a bottle of "something red and good," saying, "You have my money for wine, use what you have. And I need cigarettes, too." Of course, he didn't give me enough money for both.

The meal was good, and beautiful to look at reflecting the Italian flag with its colors of red, white, and green. But when I pointed out that he wouldn't be able to make as good a meal again tomorrow night, and that the fact he could make it all reflected my efforts to anticipate the future, he shrugged and said, "Tomorrow we will worry about tomorrow." In his pea-brain he had won the argument. Stupid old man.

Lamb Cannelllini

1 lb lamb -- cut into 3/4" pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
1 md onion -- diced
3 cloves garlic -- minced
2 cans cannellini, 20 oz
1 can diced tomatoes, 15 oz
1 tbsp Herbes de Provence
salt and pepper
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp anchovy paste
1/2 lb kale -- torn and blanched
1/2 tsp ground rosemary
2 c duck stock (chicken stock may be substituted)
2 lemons -- juiced

Heat oven to 300F.

Season lamb generously with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat until the oil sheets. Heat another couple of minutes then add lamb and brown on all sides, remove to a large bowl. Allow pan to cool for a couple of minutes off the heat and reduce heat to medium. Add onions and brown them, scraping up the fond. Add garlic and cook until fragrant -- about 1 minute longer. Add onions to bowl with lamb.

Add all remaining except stock. and mix thoroughly. Pour mixture into a clay cooker or Dutch oven and add enough stock to fill to the level of the other ingredients. Stir again. Cover and cook in oven for 2 1/2 hours.

Ah well. He's a silly old fart, but what can you do?

Technorati: Food | recipe | lamb | beans | cannellini | clay cooking | food column | gather

Read more...