Beautiful Heirloom Beans

If you have been following my blog for even a little bit, you know that I gravitate towards the unexpected...and I really tend to be attracted to odd-ball foods such as black garlic, black tahini (here's my Black Tahini Chocolate Bundt), and more.

So, when I went to the farmers' market last night and saw these - beautiful, midnight-hued heirloom beans - at Serendipity Farms' stand, I had to have them. I am not sure exactly what they are. They look similar to the Royal Burgundy Bush Bean (thank you, internet), but they were just identified as heirloom beans.

Whatever they are, they are gorgeous! They are almost black on the outside, but bright green on the inside.

Unfortunately, they lost that beautiful coloration when they were blanched. But they were so tasty. With beans as fresh as these, they need little more than a quick blanch, some sea salt, a squeeze of lemon, and a drizzle of olive oil. Not much of a recipe but here's what I did...

Ingredients

1 to 2 lbs heirloom beans
water
freshly ground sea salt
organic lemon
olive oil

Procedure

Trim the ends from the beans. Place beans in a large pot and cover them with water. Place over medium to high heat. As soon as the water comes to a boil, drain the beans and shock them with cold water.

Place the beans on a serving platter. Sprinkle with salt, squeeze fresh lemon juice over them, and drizzle with olive oil. Serve immediately.

Comments

Hot Chocolate Agasajo-Style {Spice It Up!}

photo by D For my Spice It Up! kiddos this week, I was looking for an exotic drink to serve while we learned about saffron. I found a recipe from food historian Maricel Presilla that mimicked traditional Spanish hot chocolate from the 17th century where it was served at lavish receptions called agasajos . When I teach, I don't always get to shoot photos. Thankfully, D grabbed my camera and snapped a few. Ingredients serves 14-16 1 gallon organic whole milk 3 T dried rosebuds - or 2 t rosewater 2 t saffron threads, lightly crushed 3 T ground cinnamon 3 whole tepin chiles, crushed 2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise 1 C organic granulated sugar 1 lb. bittersweet chocolate Procedure In a large soup pot that can hold a gallon plus, combine milk, dried rosebuds (or rosewater, if you are using that), saffron threads, ground cinnamon, chiles, vanilla beans, and sugar and warm over medium heat till it steams. Whisk to dissolve sugar, then lower heat an...

Frozen Art Gourmet Ice Cream

As we headed inland from the coast, I cringed as the temperature gauge in the car for outside temp climbed into the triple digits. Ugh. I'm a rather wimpy central coastal Californian who begins to wilt when it's 70 degrees outside. Thank goodness for air conditioning and a planned ice cream stop. When I parked the car outside Frozen Art Gourmet Ice Cream in Santa Rosa, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. We knew that we still had to get to the campsite...and set up our tents in the heat. But we were going to enjoy the cool, sweet treats from Frozen Art first! Michoacana ice creameries are the equivalent of Starbucks in Mexico; they're ubiquitous. Purists, however, claim that operating a true Michoacana ice cream shop require ties to Tocumbo. It's estimated that almost ninety percent of the Tocumban population is currently employed in the ice cream business from making ice cream itself to making equipment. But the real art of Tocumban ice creams: imaginat...

A Cheese Board Anchored on a Trio of Italian Cheeses + A Pinot Nero from Alto Adige #ItalianFWT on CulinaryCam.Com

I am in the process of migrating over to my new domain. Come on over to read " A Cheese Board Anchored on a Trio of Italian Cheeses + A Pinot Nero from Alto Adige " for December's #ItalianFWT.

Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Search This Blog