Cannellini, Apple and Celery Salad

From The Bean Book, Rose Elliot, Fontana, 1979.

Sometimes the simplest of combinations can make a perfect dish.

I took a can of cannellini beans, rinsed the contents and added them to a bowl. Into this went some finely chopped stalks from the heart of a stick of celery. An apple was peeled and chopped and added. That was it. I added some olive oil to moisten the mixture and the juice of half a lemon to give it a tang. Salt and pepper went in to taste.

The apple and celery gave crunch and sweetness to the comforting beans.

Taste: ✔✔✔ 

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔✔

Chilled Split Green Pea Soup with Mint

From The Bean Book, Rose Elliot, Fontana, 1979.

This recipe was for a chilled soup but when I tasted it after making it I decided it was worth having heated. Any left over was to be saved for serving chilled the next day. And the next day we had it chilled and it was very good, even a little better than when warm.

An onion and a celery stick were chopped and added to a hot pan with olive oil. When they had softened, into the pan went a litre of stock, 125g split green peas, 10 mint stalks denuded of their leaves and tied into a bundle, a pinch of ground cloves and a bay leaf. This was brought to the boil and simmered for about ¾ hour when the peas had softened completely. The bay leaf and the mint stalks were rmoved and, using a stick blender, I pureed the soup. It was tasted for seasoning.

At serving time it was spooned into bowls, a drop of cream was added and on top some chopped mint leaves were sprinkled over.

A pleasing soup, very cheap and easy to make. Worth remembering.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔✔

Beans in Leek Sauce

Beans in Leek Sauce

from The Bean Book, Rose Elliot, Fontana/Collins, 1979

Taste: ✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Goodness knows where this book came from but it was on the shelf. It’s a paperback and the contents look really interesting. There’s lots of information on the bean family and how to cook them. Overall the recipes look as though they’re a little old-fashioned but some old favourites are still viable and often very tasty. Possibly there’s a place for a new book on beans with more current ingredients.

I was a little wary of this particular recipe though it sounded as if it would be a good blend of flavours. The cooking was relatively easy and straightforward though I had to remember to soak the haricot beans the night before.

I was able to use a new saucepan for the first time. On the weekend my partner had bought a saucepan set so trying it out was an extra joy. The saucepan is a handsome one, stainless steel, glass well-fitting lid and slightly taller than the usual pan. It was a pleasure cooking with it.

The recipe suggested that a good accompaniment to the Beans in Leek Sauce was baked potatoes so I par-boiled some potatoes, smashed them with a quick punch to break them up and then put them in the oven with butter and olive oil to brown and crisp.