lima bean puree

hi. it's me.

you may remember me,

but just in case...

my name is brooke.

i cook and take pictures

of what i've cooked

and write about what i've

cooked and taken pictures of...

when i have time.

and even though cooking,

taking pictures and writing

rank very high on several lists:

(-things i'd prefer to be doing,

-things i love doing,

-things i'm often thinking about doing),

they also fall high on

another list:

-things i often need to ignore to make

way for life and work.

but, i refuse to give up on this little

blog-that-could, um, maybe-can.

and, i hope you don't either.

because even though it's taken me

almost three months to tell you about

this lima bean puree, i've thought

of it often and have been writing this

post in my head for almost as long.

--

larry and i spent our september wedding

anniversary in new orleans. while that might

sound romantic or sweet or well-planned,

it was none of those things. ok, wait. that's not fair.

let me start over.

we spent the summer trying to find one week

to go on vacation. but, suddenly,

it was almost the end of august

and we had not gone away, nor had we found a

week that would work. i looked and saw one free

five day period - starting tuesday afternoon,

that we could run somewhere, anywhere.

i also realized that this was it - if i held out for a

full week, i'd be waiting until after the first of the

year. we found a place with reasonable

fares and jumped into a half-assed vacation, feet first.

and during that time, we recognized that somehow,

our anniversary

fell during that 5 day period. suddenly,

we were going away for our anniversary.

we made many reservations - determined

not to miss out on the barbecued shrimp at Mr. B's,

the incredible steal of a lunch at restaurant august,

the cochon at cochon - but, still, none for the evening

of our anniversary. i researched, trying not to be

ridiculously indulgent, trying to take the night

seriously. and, then, i found mila.

it was a small menu, which ordinarily turns me

off, but everything seemed just right. so, i read

a few reviews, made reservations and knew

that if the meal was a bust, we would probably

still be a little full from lunch, anyway.

the dinner was lovely.

we enjoyed a gorgeously arranged salad featuring

frisee and cornbread croutons and heirloom

tomatoes and large crystals of sea salt.

they brought us out celebratory glasses of

champagne, that we never would have thought

to order on our own, and i ate a pasta dish that

was decent, if not sorely in need of a squeeze

of lemon.

but, what i fixated on that evening,

and what i continued to talk about in the same

breath as those barbecued shrimp when we got

home, was the lima bean puree that they served

in a little cast iron skillet,

alongside cornbread and sweet potato biscuits,

when we first sat down.

it was so simple.

warm lima beans blended into silkiness,

and lightly flavored with...i had no idea.

i preach that i love crazy combinations and

bold impressions. but, this puree was

neither and i couldn't get enough of

the subtle mystery flavor.

i asked the waiter - who was more than

happy to talk to us after learning that we

were from new jersey, too.

he came back and gave me this:

the lima beans were steamed.

they were then pureed with a pepper vinegar.

hmmm.

that was not it.

i talked about the puree on the walk back

to the hotel, on the plane ride home and

in the grocery store when i bought a bag

of dried lima beans to begin operation recreation.

i researched the recipe and found nothing.

i thought about calling the restaurant, but

let's be honest - i chickened out.

and, then i decided that i had to get started

or kiss my lima bean puree-obsession, goodbye.

for attempt number one, i decided to use

hot chile peppers. i'm not sure why - the puree

wasn't even slightly spicy. but, i really cannot

stand the flavor of bell peppers and i was pretty

sure that if they used them to make the

vinegar, i would have been able to taste it.

yet, i was pretty sure i was barking up the wrong

tree with the fresnos.

i cut the peppers into 1/2" pieces,

crushed a couple large cloves of garlic and

tossed both into white distilled vinegar.

the next day, i simmered the soaked beans

until they were ultra tender and then transferred

them, still warm into the food processor.

(was that a mistake? would limas get pasty like

potatoes? should i have been using a masher?)

and even though it seemed like it was too simple,

i didn't have any other jumping points.

so, i poured in a few tablespoons of the limas'

cooking liquid, a couple of the very spicy vinegar

and a couple of olive oil. i blended with my eyes

half closed and when the mixture seemed smooth,

i gave it a taste. it was...close. very close.

i added another tablespoon of the spicy vinegar,

and then one more for good measure, sprinkled

in a few more pinches of salt and blended again.

oh my goodness.

i did it.

first try.

blind guessing.

completely confused about the crazy spicy vinegar

that gave the lima beans a touch of mystery.

but, here it was, in my food processor.

hot and craving

a sweet potato biscuit.

i made larry - who i think enjoyed the puree

a normal amount the first time - try it.

he confirmed it tasted like mila's.

i was shocked. still am, if you can't tell.

and, then i realized:

no pictures. it had never even occurred to

me to take out the camera for what i assumed

would be a non-event. that was the beginning of october.

it took me until two sundays ago to make them

again, to serve alongside a turkey meatloaf and

shredded lemony brussels sprouts.

i was worried that i wouldn't like it as much.

that i wouldn't be able to get it right again,

that the flavor wouldn't ring true or stand out.

but, from the moment that i tested one lima bean

to make sure it was tender enough to blend, i knew

we'd be ok. better than ok.

i still loved it - subtle, unexpected,

but somehow just right.

just like our anniversary trip this year.

lima bean puree

(kind of adapted from mila's)

i have to warn you one last time, this puree will not knock you over with its uniqueness or its shocking lingering flavor. but, it is a lovely mixture to serve with the intention of slathering on warm bread, or served alongside chicken, fish, or as we did on this night, meatloaf. also - know this: this puree will probably not be your best friend at a dinner party. while, you can keep it in the food processor covered for quite a while, if you try to serve it too early, it does form a bit of a crust on top, as it did at mila.

i reserved extra lima bean cooking liquid and stirred into leftovers the next night before reheating. the flavor and texture were pretty spot-on from the night before.

puree

1 bag (16 ounces) dried lima beans, picked over

1/4-1/3 cup spicy vinegar (recipe below)

3-5 tablespoons lima bean cooking liquid

3 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

place lima beans in large bowl; cover with at least 3 inches cold water. stir to make sure all beans are submerged. let sit 6-8 hours (you can put them under water before you leave for work and make the puree when you get home).

drain beans. place soaked lima beans in large saucepot; cover with at least two inches water. bring to a boil; reduce heat to a bare simmer and let cook 45 minutes-1 hour, or until beans are very tender, skimming off foam as necessary. (to test beans, halve bean and look: you don't want the center to be any darker than the center. if the bean is the same color all the way through, it's a good sign you're ready to go. then taste it. there shouldn't be any resistance. but, for your most sure-on bet, use this trick i learned from anne burrell: after the first one is tender, check four more. if all five are soft and cooked through, it's time).

before draining beans, ladle out a cupful of cooking liquid. drain beans; let lima sit 10 minutes. transfer beans to bowl of food processor; add 1/4 cup spicy vinegar, 3 tablespoons cooking liquid and olive oil. process 30 seconds, or until smooth. taste; and adjust seasoning, adding more vinegar if the puree tastes too flat or more cooking liquid to smooth it out; season with salt and pepper. blend again, tasting and adjusting as necessary.

fresno pepper and garlic vinegar

5 large fresno chile peppers

3-4 large cloves garlic

1 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar

cut peppers into 1/2" pieces. smash garlic with back of knife. transfer peppers and garlic to glass jar or container; cover with vinegar and stir to combine. let sit at least one day before using. (note: the next day, the vinegar will be extremely spicy. that's ok - don't let it stop you from using it in the puree.)

pickled cherries (times two)

i have never been a cherry person.

growing up, while all the other

kids were reaching for cherry

ice pops,

lollipops,

candies,

i held back because i always

knew the sour apple or grape

that i was hoping for was not

in danger of disappearing.

(oddly enough,

i had a conversation with my

sister this week about her

similar dislike of cherry starbursts.)

it wasn't until i was older

that i really understood that cherries -

fleetingly available, expensive, messy to eat cherries -

are lovely and fruity and offer the

very best of summer.

i hold true to my original belief -

i'm still not one for cherry flavored things.

but, apparently, i kind of love cherries.

last week, i, as many people i know,

came into a huge lot of cherries. i was torn

between eating them immediately or saving

and playing. ultimately, thanks to my work

schedule, i opted for the latter.

after a brief conversation with larry,

he asked if cherries could be pickled.

magic words. i recently told someone that

if i don't know what to do with a vegetable

lately, i pickle it or pesto it. i was not feeling

cherry pesto, and i was totally into making

the already tart cherries, ultra tangy.

i researched recipes and decided on something

i'm often guilty of - talking myself into making

something that i have a very good reason not to

make. (it requires a skill i don't think i can handle,

i can't find something that is vital to the recipe, but

make it anyway, or the worst

- and the culprit this time - convincing

myself that an ingredient i don't care for will be

delicious when utilized in this particular capacity.)

i haven't had five spice powder for years.

the last time i tasted it,

the mixture had been used to jazz up a sauce

for chicken. i wasn't crazy about. it was the star anise.

i'm just not a licorice person - hence my major issue

with fennel, anise and several other things.

but since then, i've sampled it in other dishes that

had not been so bad: larry's pho from mo pho,

a seafood dish on vacation, a dessert that's kind

of foggy in my memory.

when i saw a recipe that involved star anise,

i remembered the richness of the pho and i

decided to take a chance.

pickling the cherries was easy. larry poked

holes in their flesh as i mixed together the

brine of cinnamon sticks, star anise, black

peppercorns, red wine vinegar and brown sugar.

as it boiled, the house smelled delicious.

i poured the mixture over the cherries and let

them sit. an hour later, before leaving for

the evening, i sampled one. it reminded me of

something. when we returned home, i had a second

and it hit me: it tasted like medicine. and now

i had a whole big batch of medicinal cherries.

as i tried to go to sleep that night, my mind

wandered back and forth: why can't i sleep?

why did i think the star anise was a good idea?

why didn't i just go with a flavor profile

that i knew i liked? wasn't pickling cherries

risky enough? i will never be able to wake

up in the morning. i should have made them spicy!

the next night, i surveyed the chiles at the market.

i was not feeling jalapenos or serranos - and if i

had been, i have a stockpile in a pot on our deck (yay

for keeping something alive!) - nor, was i into

the other options. as i placed the habanero

into a bag, i was pretty sure i was crazy and

seriously sadistic when it came to these cherries.

at home, i tossed together the habanero, now

halved, cinnamon sticks, white

wine vinegar, palm sugar, left over

from the sriracha, and salt. i boiled the mixture

together and poked the cherries

(smarter this time - i used only a portion of my

remaining quantity). this time i notice that

when you poke holes in the cherries,

they make a mess. when the mixture

had boiled for a couple minutes and cooled

slightly, i poured it on top of the fruits

and while i was scared of the spice, i already

knew this batch was a winner.

the other ones? they're ok.

in fact, i can see how someone who

is not me would really enjoy them.

but, the spicy cherries? they're the ones

i regret not making more of - and sadly,

that's now what's on my mind late at night

when i really should be asleep.

pickled cherries (times two)

i'm including both recipes because i know that just because the first version is not my favorite, it doesn't mean it can't be yours. in both recipes, i poked the cherries about four times with a fork, a trick i learned from the internet. this makes it easier for the brine to infiltrate the cherries and helps the cherries to release their own juices into the brine.

star anise, black peppercorn and brown sugar pickled cherries

adapted from shesimmers.com

i played around a lot with this recipe, changing the peppercorns, opting for brown sugar (and less of it) and eliminating the bay leaf and the fennel seeds, just to name a few. i also halved the amount of cherries, used two-thirds of the vinegar and did not reduce the brine.

2 cups red wine vinegar

1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons granulated brown sugar

3 cinnamon sticks or 1 large cinnamon stick, broken into 3 pieces

2 pieces star anise

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 1/4 pounds cherries

in small saucepot, combine vinegar, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, star anise and kosher salt. rub the peppercorns between your hands as you add the to the pot. over high heat, bring to a boil; reduce heat and let simmer 5 minutes. remove from heat; let cool 10 minutes.

meanwhile, using fork, poke cherries 4 times. place in bowl. pour slightly cooled brine mixture over cherries, pressing on cherries to make sure they're all under the brine. let sit at room temperature 2 hours. cover bowl tightly or transfer to a cleaned glass jar with lids. chill in fridge.

habanero, cinnamon and palm sugar pickled cherries

i will not lie - these are spicy. but, they were nowhere near as spicy as i feared they would be when i opted to use the habanero. i used one very long cinnamon stick, which i think is equivilant to about 3 normal size cinnamon sticks. this is the same amount i used for the first cherries, but because i used a lot less vinegar, the cinnamon was significantly more prominent. and, opted for palm sugar, because i had it in the fridge, but i'm sure you could use whichever sugar you have in the house. oh, and one last thing, i used two cups of cherries, but i'm pretty sure i could have used at least 1/2 cup more, if not a full cup for the amount of brine i had.

these cherries were great in a salad with arugula, pickled onions and goat cheese.

1 1/3 cups white wine vinegar

3 cinnamon sticks or 1 very long cinnamon stick, broken into three pieces

1 habanero pepper, halved

1/4 cup palm sugar

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 packed cups cherries

in small saucepot, combine vinegar, cinnamon sticks, habanero pepper, palm sugar and kosher salt. bring to a boil over high heat; reduce to heat to low and simmer 5 minutes. let cool 10 minutes.

meanwhile, using fork, poke each cherry 4 times. place cherries in a medium bowl. top with slightly cooled brine mixture, shaking slightly to make sure all the cherries are under the brine. let sit at least 2 hours at room temperature. transfer to a clean glass jar or cover bowl tightly. store in fridge.

salt and vinegar potatoes

sometimes i see a recipe and i'm

instantly angry at myself for not

thinking of it first.

that's how i felt over a year ago

when i saw

grilled salt & vinegar potatoes

on 101 cookbooks, just under

a year ago. it just seemed so

obvious - but really was it?

i'm embarrassed to admit it,

but even though, at the magazine,

we constantly infused potatoes

with everything from garlic and rosemary

to lemon, before mashing,

i never made the leap to slices.

or to liquid infusing.

or to recreating a potato chip.

but, i'm getting ahead of myself.

i like salt and vinegar potato chips.

when it comes to potato chips are

they my absolute? no. but, i enjoy

the occasional puckered torture.

when i saw this recipe, it just seemed

so smart. and, as is my new,

lease on life - pretty easy.

(not to say that i'm always taking

the simple way out. for some reason,

that i cannot explain, i spent most of last

week preparing fish tacos -

just for larry and i - for days.

on sunday, i shopped for the ingredients.

monday, before meeting my family

for dinner, i pickled the red onions.

tuesday, when i got home from work,

i broiled tomatillos, an onion, cloves

of garlic and a jalapeno

before throwing them into the

food processor with lime, cilantro and

scallions for salsa.

the next night (taco night),

i made a lime crema, then

marinated and cooked the fish.

so that's ok, but sometimes chopping an onion

and garlic and opening a can of tomatoes

for a crazy quick marinara

is just too much.

it's ok - i don't always understand me either.)

anyway, the potatoes.

they looked very fast and hard to mess up.

it was a very hot night and

i loved that they could be mostly prepped ahead

of time and then, only cooked for only 10 minutes on the

grill. and, i loved that the recipe

was made from very simple ingredients:

waxy potatoes,

white vinegar,

olive oil,

salt and pepper.

and here's what you have to do.

you slice the potatoes pretty thin,

and place them into a saucepot, already

filled with 2 whopping cups of vinegar.

once that mixture has been brought to

a boil, let them briefly simmer

and then turn off the heat.

after that? you walk away for 30 minutes to

cook something else. or if you're like me,

decide that all this hard work has earned

you the right to watch an episode of gilmore

girls that you've probably seen before.

when the time is up,

you drain the potatoes. again, if you're like me,

this is when you freak out, thinking that it is such

a waste to just throw out all that vinegar. but

then you remember that it's all potato starchy

and that if you're going to use it, this is probably

your only chance. so, you drain the potatoes over

a bowl, pour the vinegar back into the saucepot

and bring the whole thing to a boil. you're not

sure what you're going to do with the reduced

mixture - or with a house that smells of vinegar -

but at least you were not wasteful.

so then, you toss the potatoes with

olive oil, salt and pepper, taking care not to

crush them (and again, if you're like me,

this is the part you will be most afraid of,

but, i promise, you will be ok.)

next you'll throw the slices

(actually, maybe you'd

be better off carefully placing them -

i'm sad to say i lost a couple)

on the grill. cover and cook for

a few minutes before flipping

and repeating. and then,

sprinkle with salt. or if you're like me,

sprinkle them with

the sriracha salt you had to make

(but actually had no plans to actually use).

oh, and i almost forgot.

serve that reduced down vinegar on the side,

for dipping. maybe you'll be the only one

who feels like you need that extra kick.

maybe you'll be the only one who wants

to add a little torture. but, at least you

weren't wasteful.

salt and vinegar potatoes

adapted from 101 cookbooks

i really enjoyed these potatoes - they were a great side dish to a pretty bad main course (we're not talking about that, though) and they were fun. i think i probably could have simmered them for an extra minute or two and maybe grilled them for a minute less. but, nonetheless, they were good. and we enjoyed them.

2 cups white vinegar

1 pound waxy potatoes

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon flaky sea salt or kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

sriracha salt or additional salt of your choosing

pour vinegar into medium saucepot. using sharp knife, cut potatoes into 1/4" slices, adding them to the vinegar as you cut, to prevent them from browning. make sure that the potatoes are completely submerged in the vinegar.

set saucepot on stove; bring to a boil. reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, or until they are just fork tender. turn off heat and let potatoes sit 30 minutes. drain potatoes. (as i said above, at this point, i drained about a cup of vinegar into a bowl, returned it to the saucepot and boiled for about 15 minutes, or until reduced and slightly thicker. i used it as a very (obviously) vinegary dipping sauce. not necessary, but i liked the extra tang it gave to the potatoes.)

place potatoes in bowl; add olive oil, salt and pepper. toss to coat.

heat grill to medium-high. grill potatoes covered, 6-10 minutes, turning once, or until golden brown and marked on both sides. remove from grill; sprinkle with salt or sriracha salt.