Fresh Fava Bean Dip with Rosemary

Or you could call this a fava bean hummus, as my friend Pete did. Some friends I hadn't seen for a while stopped by the other night, and luckily I had a little bit of this on hand to offer up. I had almost eaten the whole thing for dinner it was so good. But I reigned myself in, even though it was creamy and fresh tasting and an irresistible color. Later on, we were all sitting at our outdoor table, the sun was going down in a magenta blur behind the trees, and the baby was asleep. Perfect timing for a few beers and a light snack with some old friends.

We had all lived together back in the New Paltz college years. It was a very communal time, in which an old house up on a hill on Springtown Road was one of the backdrops for lots of time frittering. Ah, those sweet days of wasting your college education! Long hikes in the mountains and late nights in town. People hanging around playing guitars. Maybe some occasional studying, but a good deal of reading. I lived in a shack (that's what we called it) that had no plumbing. I thought it was a good deal, and it would be very poetic and rustic at the same time. I might have had a little "beat generation" thing going on back then. Thankfully, my friends' house was right next door, and they availed me the use of their bourgeoise indoor plumbing.

Now, we all have families, and jobs, and houses to take care of. And now, we're eating things like fava bean dip and drinking Lagunitas beer. But it was a good life then, actually, as it's a good one now. I think someone might have had a can of Rolling Rock, though, just to keep it real.

Fresh Fava Bean Dip with Rosemary

1. Round up one pound of fresh fava beans. Remove the beans from their soft, cozy pod. I always think I want to curl up in there. No wonder favas are so velvety. They sleep well.

2. Drop them in boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes.

3. Drain and when cooled a little, slip their heavy jackets off to reveal the stunningly emerald beans inside.

4. Put all your beans into a food processor and start it up, while pouring olive oil  slowly in. Add the juice of a medium lemon. Some salt and pepper. Then add stalk of sticky rosemary, needles pulled off the stem and one or two cloves of garlic.

5. No measurements. Make sure it looks dippy, and thick. Taste it to see if it needs anything. Put it in a bowl, serve with pita chopped into eighths. Enjoy with some old pals.

Sweet Green Bean Quickles

Here's a quick little pickle recipe. I call them "quickles" because they're quick and, well, pickles! They're a perfect snack with drinks. Easy to pick up and munch on. Slightly sweet, with a nice acidic bite, rounded by the warmth of celery seed. They are perfect served with some sharp cheddar, slices of apple and hearty brown bread, accompanied by a nice brown ale.

Or maybe on the side of a super dry, dirty gin martini. Make your martini with a splash of brine and garnish with a pickled green bean!

1 1/2 pounds of green beans, topped not tailed (meaning: remove the stem part and not the tail)

Brine:

3 cups of white vinegar

1 cup of white wine vinegar

6 tablespoons of sugar

3 teaspoons of pickling spice

1 teaspoon of black peppercorns

1 clove of garlic, smashed

1/2 teaspoon of celery seed

Bring the brine to a boil, dissolving the sugar. Let simmer for ten minutes. Depending on how long your beans are use either a pint or quart, wide-mouth variety. Make sure your jars are nice and clean, and hot. You can fill them with boiling water, or super hot tap water. Once the brine is ready, take it off the heat, fill the jars with the beans, and then fill to cover the beans. Seal them, let the jars cool a bit, put them in the fridge. They benefit from a few days, but you can eat them a few hours later, too. Store them in the fridge.

P.S. There's still a few days to leave a comment for a chance to win Food Heroes by Georgia Pellegrini. I've asked folks to tell me who their food heroes are, and the answers are amazing! I am totally enjoying reading everyone of them.

Recipes

I can't keep up with all the things I want to make, so I will occasionally just post them here for future use.

Like this recipe for Braised Beef Ribs that my friend Pete sent me: Balthazar's Braised Beef Ribs. Being who I am, that is, frugal, or austere, as my mother's kindly puts it, I will wait until I see the meat for sale in the store.

Then there's Jason's delightful soup recipe that I will get to shortly, being it's that time of year and all:

"Standard recipe, soak the beans over night, mire poix and garlic sauted, stock or broth, fresh rosemary, lots of pepper etc. But, I cooked it all down slow with smoked turkey "tail" then removed the meat and added it to the soup. I pureed half the beans so I got the creamy texture but still retained the heartiness then added escarole at the end. Really delicious, the smoked turkey is something I never tried before but amazing, I normally would use ham hock but some people don't eat pork so I tried it. Really good..."

Right now, I am working on the yogurt cake that Eve sent me the recipe for. I am very excited for it, because it was incredibly easy and smells delightful...More on that later!

Wax Beans and Leeks

We had a lovely visit from family the other day, and a nice harvest-y meal was slowly eaten in late afternoon with a bottle of red wine. What a luxury! I served pork chops on the grill, marinated in cider and crabapple jelly, roasted potatoes tossed with parsley, sauerkraut cooked with diced apple, and this side dish, which was the breakout star of the evening.

1 pound of wax beans, trimmed, snapped in half, cooked in boiling water for five minutes

3 leeks, I used the green portion only, but you may do as you choose, sliced

Secret ingredient: Oregon dukkah spice mix

Sautee leeks in olive oil and butter. Add beans and toss. Salt and pepper. Add dukkah and toss. I think I had either the Zesty or Traditional Dukkah. Thanks, Dane!

Black Beans and Brown Rice

Tonight we had burritos with black beans and rice. It was delicious and lovely but I was too hungry and too busy feeding baby to take a picture. It would have been dull anyway. I soaked the beans last night and cooked them in the crock pot over the course of the day (two onions, two cloves of garlic, s&p, chili powder, bay leaf). Brown rice made during second nap, along with salsa fresca (tomatoes, lime juice, garlic, salt).  We like flour tortillas even though it's sacrilege. I know I should find some nice corn tortillas...Top it with sharp cheddar, organic whole milk yogurt, extra cilantro, and you are in business. Simple and satisfying.