flavour.ie

Deeply Dippy Broad Bean Dip

Posted on August 19, 2020August 19, 2020 by flavourie

Yet more things to do with Broad Beans – essential when one’s personal harvest has been (bean?) too successful! This is delish though, so do give it a whirl!

Is it a dip? Is it a hummus? Is it a pesto? I’m not sure to be honest, but what I do know is that it can any of the above, but most importantly what it definitely is is DELICIOUS!

It is also really simple. So, if like me you are staring down the barrel of another three to four weeks of non-stop bean eating, this little whizzo of a dish will make a refreshing change in how to eat your beautiful sweet Broad, (Fava), Beans!

I created this the same night I tested out the Retro Tuna Plait recipe, and the two things together were just amazing!

Ingredients (makes about 200 ml of dippy/hummusy/pestoy/saucy thing)

2 generous handfuls of Broad Beans in their pods
2 tbsp pine nuts
1 clove garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
Juice of half a lemon
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 1/2 tbsp Natural Yogurt
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
Sea salt to taste

Method

Pod, skin and blanch the Broad Beans.
Place all the ingredients into a blender/processor, and blend until smooth.
If a little too rough, add more yogurt a little at a time until the mix blends into an almost smooth consistency. I like a little texture to my hummus, but some prefer their totally smooth, so blend according to your preference.
Place in a bowl, drizzle a little more EVO over the top. I decorated mine with a vibrant orange nasturtium flower (edible), but herb flowers, calendula petals or some other edible flower would make a lovely garnish against the fresh green colour of the dish.

Although I used this like a vegetable condiment to my Retro Tuna Plait, this goes really well as a topping for toasted sourdough crostini; a dip for crudities, or even swished through long pasta with heaps of grated parmesan and black pepper.

Fava & Feta Salad

Posted on August 18, 2020August 18, 2020 by flavourie

Necessity is the mother of invention, and having a garden full of different peas and beans means the creative streak is at peak these days! Broad Beans, or Fava Beans, are top of the menu at the moment. Serve them up with a nice Chianti, or some Feta – like in this simple salad!

I grew up eating Broad Beans – and hated them. But that was because we never did the double-podding – we were all about maximum fibre in our house, so the pods came off but the skins stayed on. Being an adult has at least some advantages, in that now I am prepared to sacrifice a small amount of additional food prep time to pod and skin my broad beans and the rewards are worth it.

Sweet, nutty, grassy Broad, or Fava Beans, especially when they are medium sized in their pods, are just wonderful eaten raw. But if this doesn’t sit right with you, (or if you are someone partial to a bit of gustatory fluctuation when it comes to beans), a quick blanch for a mere minute should help you get around this!

So aside from the time taken to double-pod your beans, the rest of this salad will be ready in about five minutes. I served it up with some Ras al Hanout spiced and BBQ’s chicken thighs with some potatoes and leaves from the garden too, but this also works well as a topping for sourdough crostini.

Ingredients (serves 2, scales up easily):

2 or 3 large handfuls of Broad Beans in their pods
125 g Feta cheese
25 g pine nuts, toasted (you could also use flaked almonds)
1 spring onion, trimmed and finely sliced on the round
1 tsp sumac
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt, Black Pepper
1 tsp of lemon zest and juice from 1/4 of a lemon
Handful of herbs, roughly chopped: oregano and chive work well.

Method:

Remove the beans from their pods, remove the skin. If the beans are small to medium sized and sweet, they can be eaten raw. Any bigger and I would recommend blanching for about a minute before refreshing in iced water. If the thought of eating raw beans isn’t for you, whatever the size of the bean, then do this too!
Drain the beans, place into a bowl.
Crumble over the feta cheese, add the spring onion.
Toast the pine nuts (or flaked almonds) in a dry pan. Set aside to cool slightly.
Sprinkle the Sumac over the beans and feta. Add a small pinch of sea salt (the feta will already be salty), and a grind of black peppercorns.
Add the lemon zest and juice and a generous glug of EVO (about 1 tablespoon). Chuck in the herbs.
Mix all together and serve.

Enjoy…with a nice glass of Chianti, maybe. Fuhfuhfuhfuhfuhfuh…!

Baby Broad Bean Stew

Posted on July 28, 2020July 28, 2020 by flavourie

No matter what you think you know, there is always more to learn! This happened to me when a Greek friend responded to a photo of my Baby Broad Beans and said, I have a lovely recipe you can make with those…

The recipe that followed was more a list of ingredients – a list I might add that seemed incredibly short and looking temptingly easy to make. Further to my #GIY adventures this year, everything I plant has not only sprouted, but taken on an almost Triffid-like quality leaving me petrified for the forthcoming Pea and Bean Armageddon I see looming in my near future!

For that reason, my friend, Nana Karaoulani’s suggestion that I make a traditional Greek dish, heretofore unheard of by me, as a way of making a genius inroad in my Broad Bean Crop, was well-timed and brilliant!

Baby Broad Beans growing happily in my garden…

I do seem to be on a bit of Greek flow at the moment with my food and flavours! It must be the time of year. It’s also one of my favourite cuisines, and there is a strong familial link with this cuisine too. I didn’t hesitate in heading out to my garden and picking off a colander of smaller pods and getting to work in the kitchen.

There is one tiny time consuming activity associated with this dish (aside from growing your own veg, of course!), and that is de-stringing the beans! Usually, when I eat Broad Beans, the labour comes from double-podding: taking the beans out of their furry jackets and removing the outer skin to reveal the tender, bright green flesh within. Now, if you had my childhood, every Broad Bean ever put in front of me was subjected to single podding only. My mother, obsessed with dietary fibre, made us eat the rubber outer skin. She is right of course, but when one becomes an adult, we can do things our way, and I say Double-Podding is worth every moment.

Anyway, with baby Broad Beans (or Fava Beans as you might know them to be), what is required is to top and tail and run a pairing knife down the side seam of each bean to remove the string, keeping the pod intact. Put each bean into a bowl of lemon water to prevent oxidisation and turning the pods black where you cut them. We cook the whole thing, double-pods and all, and let me tell you: this dish is delicious! Thank you Nana for the top tip!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp Olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
500 g baby broad beans
400 g tin chopped tomato
300 ml water
3 potatoes, scrubbed/peeled and cut into apx 3 cm pieces
Salt and Pepper
Handful of Feta cheese, crumbled

Method:

Heat a saute pan over a low heat, add oil and onions. Cook the onions until softened and brown. Add the baby broad beans and potatoes, tin of tomatoes and top with the water so that all has been covered.
Cook until all is tender and most of the liquid has cooked off. You are looking for a thick sauce-like texture. Season with salt and pepper.
Tip out into a serving bowl and top with crumbled feta.

I served this dish with a joint of slow cooked lamb and a side of braised fennel topped with crispy, garlicky breadcrumbs. Delicious, and so simple – a feast for the whole family!

Enjoy…

Deeply Dippy Broad Bean Dip

Kate Ryan