Last week, dear readers, it was all about delicious stews that provide comfort during these times while also protecting your wallet and the environment a little. If you want to cook cheaply, you often have to use simple ingredients. And they don’t have to be bad or tasteless, quite the opposite. Among the great dishes I’ve had the privilege of eating, I especially remember the bean stew made with those waxy beans, semolina balls, and some ground beef. He liked the Champions League!
In my cooking sessions, in real life or digitally, I come across them again and again, stewed beans. I recently witnessed a real commercial in Spain Beans from Toulouse, a humble bean dish from Tolosa in the Basque Country. Roberto Ruiz has been preparing beans at Frotón restaurant for over 20 years and knows all the tricks needed to present vegetables. Be careful, beans have their own laws.
Every week our chef Felix Hanika writes us the recipes of the day.Cached Jack for the Berliner Zeitung
Above all, it is important to never stir the beans with a spoon or something similar, but to gently swirl the entire pot regularly. In addition: salt only at the end, because this is the only way to keep the beans whole and not fall apart even after cooking for several hours. With roasted cabbage tips, pork and black milk, this is a hearty but simple enough dish, reminiscent of meals in a Bud Spencer and Terence Hill western.
Bud Spencer and Terence Hill also ate bean stew
And that brings us back to Italy, because that’s where the two actors come from, with the real names Carlo Pedersoli and Mario Girotti, by the way. Girotti (Terence Hill) was born in Venice, but had a German mother in Lommatzsch, near Dresden, where he escaped death during World War II air raids. So he will know the German and Italian bean stews.
Bud Spencer and Terrence Hill not only know their way around roast goose, but they also know their way around bean stew.image
Saxon bean stew, northern Italian white bean and vegetable stew, with southern nduja and tomato sauce. The French spoil us with theirs cauldron with many types of beans, often with sausage or duck confit. Simply delicious! But again, be careful, all this can lead to bad wind in your pants and stomach cramps. Eastern Europe is full of wonderful stews that have nothing to do with a one-euro Balkan stew from a discount store.
If you look in Europe, you will find many wonderful recipes. Unfortunately, it has to be looked at quite carefully, because in some places the culture has already disappeared. This wonderful German culture was (also) destroyed by the dangerous red “bean”; style straight from the can Chili con carne mixed, each bean gives a little color afterwards. If you try slimy beans firsthand, you’ll rightly ask yourself why the reddish-gray gelatinous substance should be used. This has little to do with actual beans.
Beans aren’t just for spaghetti westerns and cowboys
So why is it? Who has time to cook beans for hours these days? Where else can you get: beans, borlotti beans, green beans, lima beans, black or black-eyed peas, wax beans, green beans… The list is endless again, and one thing is clear: no supermarket is reflected. the diversity that nature offers us. No, there’s a lot of great stuff in the supermarket, but almost always only what can be easily processed and sold as profitably as possible.
Even the French know how to make it: bean cassoulet with bacon, sausage and potatoes.Felix Hanika
And the lifestyle of the urban lemming is not compatible with the preparation of the agricultural fruit bean. But where are the smart entrepreneurs? Why not locally produced organic canned stews, guaranteed with old varieties? Where are the restaurateurs? Maybe the common bean here is still “Italo western” and cowboy breakfast (beans). But for those who want to give it a go, here’s a simple recipe and a tip: buy beans in tomato sauce from Italians or Turks, order bean soup again at a restaurant, or cook yourself a big pot, perhaps fresh. air over a real fire. It’s worth it!
Cannellini beans with fennel tomato sauce, dill and yogurt
Ingredients (for 4-5 people): 1 can of cannellini beans, 1 can of tomatoes (preferably datterini), 1 small onion, 1 clove of garlic, 1 bulb of fennel, 2 cl of Pernod (or 1-2 star anise), ½ bunch of dill, olive oil, salt and pepper, yoghurt , lemon juice if needed/scratch
Preparation: After washing everything well, we cut the vegetables into cubes of about 1 cm. We chop the garlic very finely. Then we sweat everything together in a saucepan for about 5 minutes with plenty of olive oil. We extinguish it with Pernod and immediately add the tomatoes and a glass of water (if you don’t have a Pernod or if you want to avoid alcohol, add a star or two anise and then fish.).
Now add salt and pepper and let everything simmer over medium heat. It should be cooked gently for about 15 minutes. Then we add the beans and leave everything for another 20 minutes. At the end, finely chop the dill and mix. Finally, salt, pepper and, if desired, lemon juice and zest. To serve, we put a teaspoon in a soup plate, pour plenty of olive oil on top, a dollop of yogurt and, if desired, garnish with chopped dill and a lemon peel. This goes well with sesame and maybe some iced ayran.
Also, a nice twist on the dish above: baked cannellini beans with salsiccia and tomato sauce.Felix Hanika
White bean-kale stew
Ingredients for 4 people): 400 g of white beans (for convenience, already prepared from a can), 600 ml of vegetable stock or chicken stock (well seasoned), 100 ml of dry white wine, 1/2 leek (preferably fine, white), 2 shallots (or small onions one), 1 clove of garlic, olive oil, nutmeg, salt, pepper, a little cayenne, a little lemon if needed.
Preparation: Everyone already knows how we start. After washing our hands a lot, we prepare everything properly. We wash everything well and start cutting everything. Cut the kale into strips 2 to 3 millimeters thick, finely chop the shallot and onion, as well as the garlic. Everything else is ready.
We will begin to sweat the shallots and onions in a saucepan with a lot of olive oil. It should be nice and glassy. When the time comes, we deglaze with white wine and then add the garlic. Reduce everything by half and then add the stock. Bring to a boil again and then add a good third of the beans (with the liquid). Let everything simmer for about 10 minutes and then puree it finely.
You should now have a velvety, beige liquid that is well seasoned. If it’s too white, season it with salt, pepper, cayenne and lemon (a little stock cube or powder would also work), as it’s the base of the dish.
Now we sweat the kale in a pan with a little olive oil. It can be a little crispy, but it should not be burnt. When ready, season well with salt and nutmeg and add to the soup. The same goes for the other beans. Now bring to a boil and then cover and leave for a good 20 minutes so that the flavors are distributed evenly. It goes well with toasted bread rubbed with garlic and a little olive oil.
By the way, you can replace the kale with any other winter vegetable, and a combination of vegetables works well too. If you like it a little richer, you can add a dollop of cream to the basic soup or a vegan alternative. And, of course, you can also work on bacon. Even Terence Hill and Bud Spencer liked to do it.
Felix Hanika: Passionate and Mallorcan chef by choice, for whom a kilo is butter.Felix Hanika
Do you have questions about our requests for recipes, ideas and stories or restaurant tips for us? Then write to us by email: briefe@berliner-zeitung.de
Felix Hanika at first he was an investment banker, then he did a chef’s apprenticeship at Hotel & Restaurant Bareiss in the Black Forest. For eight years he cooked in the best restaurants in the world. She regularly publishes her favorite recipes in the weekend edition of the Berliner Zeitung.