Food for Thought with Suzanne Dunaway
A TASTE OF LEGUMES – Spilling the Beans
Cassoulet. Even the name is melodious for this glorious French casserole of confit of duck, sausage and the delicate white beans from Castelnaudary. Tonno con fagioli. The simple but memorable combination of cannellini or borlotti with tuna and grilled sweet red peppers. Combinations without end to tickle a cook’s imagination.
But oh, those beans.
We may love them, but do they reciprocate?
In France, one is told always to eat beans with bread, as their sugars are very indigestible and in the process of eating bread, one chews more thoroughly and helps the stomach to assimilate the rowdy legumes. Is this true or an old wives’ tale that bread lovers love to follow? I take these tales very seriously, because I’ve found that most work and came out of experience. So bread with beans it is.
But sometimes, even bread (or the infamous “Bean-o”, a digestive enzyme found in the US that sometimes works and sometimes creates even more trouble) cannot do its work, and an enthusiastic bean fan may find himself feeling as if he had to pay dues for simply having lunch.
Bean-lovers, rejoice! A French friend, an excellent cook, has given me the secret for success with cassoulet or anything cooked with beans: buy them fresh in July or August when the canellini or borlotti are just out of their pods, and freeze them for future dishes. Dried beans have more concentrated amounts of the sugars which cause the dreaded ballooning, whereas fresh ones have not had the time to muster their formidable attacks on the system. First, the upper intestine greets the bean sugars, unable to digest them. The sugars then pass to the lower realms where sweets are welcomed by bacteria who pounce and munch, creating the gasses and sometimes disturbing after-effect of a delicious meal!
But here’s a tip for cooking dried beans that might alleviate much of these hazards: Cover dried beans with cold water and bring to a boil. Immediately turn off the fire and let them cool. Toss out the water and do the same again. Toss out the second water and start afresh with 1/3 beer or white wine, 2/3 cold water, a chopped sweet onion, a tiny pepperoncino, and a splash of olive oil. Bring to a boil, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface. Simmer, covered, until very, very tender for better digestibility. Add a couple of chopped garlic cloves and a few leaves of sage, sautéed in a little olive oil. Correct for salt, and serve. A squeeze of lemon will also balance the dish.
As for fresh beans, they need no changes of water and cook far more quickly than dried, but do remove the foam that rises to the surface. Some cooks simmer fresh beans in vegetable or chicken broth, some in wine and water, some only in water, but it really depends on personal taste. The beans of summer are delicate, needing only olive oil, salt and pepper to be a perfect lunch, but I love them with the addition of tuna in olive oil, thin slices of very sweet summer onions, fresh pepper, and chopped parsley, basil or cilantro for taste and decoration.
A smooth bean soup is yet another way to foil the elusive sugars that haunt us longer than we might wish.
Cook white, black or brown beans in the above manner with an onion, carrot and celery stalk, chopped fine. When the beans are tender, add the sautéed garlic and sage, and in a food processor purée the mixture until smooth. Return the beans to the fire and add chicken or vegetable broth until the soup is a consistency you like. Heat again, and serve with a splash of sherry, a round of lime and hard-cooked egg, chopped, in each bowl. In France, addition of the sweet wine of the Roussillon, Banyuls, is delightful with this soup, along with a spoonful of good yogurt, crème fraiche or mascarpone.
I would love to have more information from anyone who has bean there, done that. Write me at ssdunaway@aol.com with any suggestions for the bean problem, or any questions.
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