I’ve got a little secret to tell you about cooking beans from scratch. You know that whole “soak beans overnight,” thing that is guaranteed to make you turn the cookbook page? Well, you don’t have to do any such thing. Just check through the beans for stones and then cover them in a good amount of water _ I did 1-1/2 cups beans to 4 cups water _ bring to a boil for about 3 minutes, then cover and turn off the heat. I wanted mine al dente before they went into the oven, which took about 2 hours.
I was investigating beans because I had a lamb breast on hand and wanted to turn it into a casserole. Breast of lamb is an odd little cut that you will only find if you are buying a whole lamb or go to a specialty butcher. Cooked fast like a chop it would be horrible, with lots of fat and only little bits of tough meat. However, take it low and slow and you get a perfectly delish dish that is very economical.
I did mine by cooking the beans as above until they were soft enough to bite into but not all the way done. I put the drained beans (reserving the bean water) in a casserole, added some rosemary sprigs and a roughly chopped onion and then laid the lamb breast on top. If I had had garlic cloves I would have peeled a handful and popped them in, but I didn’t and I was too lazy busy to walk down to the store to get some. I poured in enough bean water to cover the casserole (adding about another cup about halfway through cooking when most of the liquid had disappeared) and put it in a 300-degree oven for 3 hours. I could have gone longer and slower but that was all the time I had before a ravenous Child 1 burst into the house. I seasoned lightly with salt and pepper before serving with some stir-fried greens to add a bit of brightness to the plate.
Result? Not quite a replica of the famous cassoulet I made such a fuss about in France but pretty darned good all the same. The fat had melted into the beans leaving them tender and flavorful and the meat had fallen off the ribs into tender chunks. I paired this with some Down Under Cellars Shiraz, a classic match-up and also in the economy range at about $9.
So, there you have it, the secret of beans, spilled.
And I’ll tell you something else I learned today. Google “breast of lamb” and you will get a whole lot of results that don’t have anything to do with lamb.
Bon appetit!
Related posts: http://vinecdote.com/blog4/2011/05/swept-away-by-cassoulet/