Greek-Style Patani/Lima Beans

Here’s a secret. Sometimes I crave fabulousness and excitement. I want towering stilettos, preferably patent and pointy and liable to break your feet in three places. I want dresses that look like songs were written for them. I want late nights of dancing. And flashbulbs. And drama. And dishes that take many days and a fairy godmother to make.

Sometimes.

Then there are times when I want simple and straightforward. Tranquil contentment. Good bread with butter and salt. Staying home with newly laundered sheets and a good book. I want flip flops and my pink flats with the rubber sole. And freshly squeezed orange juice. And sensibility. And simple ingredients put together in a simple way.

Which ultimately become fabulous.

When it comes to simple yet fabulous dishes that highlight an ingredient to its utmost best I turn to Molly of Orangette. Look at what she has done to Brussels sprouts (a dish I fell in mad, mad, crazy love with). And chickpeas. And shallots. And mushrooms.

It is to her blog’s welcoming doorstep that I eventually found myself when searching for something to make of the bag of patani (lima beans) I had picked up at the market. I usually have them with bacon or prosciutto, but I was ready for something new. But simple. But fabulous. And I found it.

Greek-Style Patani/Lima Beans
(adapted from Orangette)

• 250 grams fresh patani
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
• 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• Sea salt to taste

- Blanch the fresh patani in boiling water for about 5 minute. Drain and peel.
- Combine the peeled patani, water, olive oil, parsley, garlic, and salt in a saucepan. Place the pan over medium heat, and cook, covered but stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender, about 15 minutes.
- Transfer to a serving bowl, and serve, drizzled with more olive oil, if you like.
- Serves 2.

I don’t know how close patani is exactly to lima beans, perhaps they are one and the same…or perhaps siblings grown in different climes thus possessing slightly different traits. In any case, this recipe worked beautifully with patani as I’m sure it did with Molly’s lima beans. I love these beans, so their flavor and texture ringing true and clear in this dish won my heart. That and the unrepentant pungency of the garlic, for which I am also a fan. I’m sure this would be amazing as a side with some delicately prepared fish. Or as Molly (and I) had it with some crusty bread. If you have leftovers I imagine they would do well as a dip or spread – either whizzed in a processor or chunkily smushed with a fork, perhaps with some goat’s cheese or Greek yogurt mixed in.

Simple. Fabulous.

Breakfast #30: Maple Steel Cut Oats with Cinnamon Apples

There is nothing both so soothing and so promising in the early morning light than melting a pat of butter in a hot skillet.

Well, except for listening to my espresso machine sputter out its dark liquid treasure while being enveloped by its hypnotic aroma – but that’s not happening anytime soon lest I inadvertently pass some caffeine to Little C, which I will ultimately end up paying for come bedtime!

So for now…butter. Golden and sunny and smelling of only good things. A little yellow island in your pan slipping and sliding and melting into the beginnings of deliciousness. If you were industrious and made some pancake batter the night before, you can lay ladlefuls of it in the pan, letting them cook in the hot butter. If you were up for most of the night feeding your little one while sneaking in some dvd watching (on the laptop with headphones!) with your other half, then maybe you can manage some French toast, likewise slipping them in to cook in the butter. Or, if you’ve snuck out of the room while everyone else was still asleep, and there hangs a lovely silence in the air (even in the middle of a busy city), perhaps you’d like to stir a pot of this while you count those blessings that seem to leap fresh in your mind in that early morning air.

Maple Steel Cut Oats with Cinnamon Apples

• 1/2 cup steel cut oats
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 – 1 cup water
• 1-2 tablespoons raisins
• 2-3 tablespoons maple syrup (depending on your taste and your maple syrup)
• 1 apple, peeled, cored, and cut into chunks (I used a Fuji apple)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoon brown sugar
• A couple of dashes of cinnamon

- Heat the milk and water in a saucepan. When hot and small bubbles begin to form on the sides of the pan, stir in your oats. Let this cook over low heat for about 10-15 minutes then add the raisins and the maple syrup. Cook further, about 10-15 minutes more, stirring regularly, until oats are done to your liking. If it starts to dry out before the oats are done and a splash more milk.
- In a hot skillet melt the butter. When the butter starts to bubble, add the apple and sprinkle over the sugar. Stir gently until all the apple pieces are coated evenly. Add a couple of dashes of cinnamon (I give it two shakes) and stir again to make sure everything is distributed evenly. Swish the pan around – this helps! Cook for about 5-10 minutes or until the apples are starting to soften but still have a crunch and the butter/sugar mixture is bubbly and coating the apples.
- Divide the oats into two bowls. Top with some of the apple – don’t forget to drizzle some of the caramel-y sauce onto your oats as well!
- Serves two.

You may have some apple left (or maybe not). If so, save them to top your mid-afternoon yogurt.

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chip Streusel

If you look here, here, and here, you could easily conclude that I am a lover of all things banana bread. And you would be right. I do love this humble loaf and am always up for trying yet another banana bread recipe. I cannot resist the perfume-y moistness the bananas give the cake. It’s also a fantastic way to use bananas that have been sitting on the dining room table, fast moving past their prime. If you are part of a small household, and bananas come in big bunches, you will know what I mean. With a new member on board though, perhaps I can look forward to the day when we won’t always end up with a few rotten bananas. Which is not to say that I will ever stop letting some go “bad” for my bread :)

Now, you may not be up for reading yet another banana bread recipe over here but the fact of the matter is, and I might as well admit it now and get it out of the way, I will most likely continue trying all manners of banana bread recipes, and posting them in this space (unless of course it was totally heinous then you can be sure nobody would hear of it). I hope you don’t mind :)

This recipe is from Tessa Kiros’ book Apples for Jam, one of my very favorite cookbooks just because it is such a beautiful book written in such a lovely way. It’s a book I tucked into bed with me many times when I was pregnant. More than any pregnancy or baby book, Apples for Jam, with Tessa’s lyrical snippets from her childhood and that of her two (adorable!) daughters, would keep my pre-delivery jitters at bay much more than any account of “what to expect”. I still look over its pages and dream of the good things I want to make for (and with!) Little C someday.

This banana bread is one of them.

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chip Streusel
(Banana bread from Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros, streusel adapted from Ramblings From a Gypsy Soul)

For the banana bread:

• 125 grams butter
• 180 grams dark brown sugar
• 350 grams ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 250 grams all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons warm milk

For the chocolate chip streusel:

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter, cold
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

- Make your streusel: Mix sugar and flour together. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or rub with your fingers until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in walnuts and chocolate chips. Set aside in a cool place where the butter will not melt while you get on with your batter (I stick mine in the fridge).
- Cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Mix in the mashed bananas.
- Add the eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt to the mixture and stir until everything is mixed well. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix until just incorporated and smooth.
- Mix baking soda into the warm milk and mix this into the batter.
- Scrape the batter into a loaf tin that’s been buttered and bake for about 50 minutes in an 180C oven, or until a skewer poked into the middle comes out clean. Turn out onto a rack to cool.

Tessa’s recipe is for just the cake. I added the same streusel topping I used here, adding chocolate chips to the mix just because I had them around…although who really needs a reason to add chocolate to cake? I certainly don’t :)

One Month! (and a spice mix)

One month...yet another month has passed since I last dropped in here. I suppose I need a lesson in mum-time-management (mums across the world: how do you do it?). Would it suffice to say I've been distracted by the most delicious little feet and hands I have ever had the good fortune to encounter? Not to mention cheeks and bums and pata-jamon legs. That's not even to talk about the seemingly endless expressions she has, that no doubt would bore another human being to bits, but leave me hopelessly captivated. Enamored. Smitten.

My kingdon for all the time in the world to just watch her.

Unfortunately my kingdom doesn't fetch a price as high as that, so it's back to work I go! And back to all the other things I've (tsk, tsk, shuffle, shuffle) let fall a bit to the wayside (hello housework! hello home accounting! hello bills filing!) while I have been otherwise occupied.


And hopefully back to more regular visits here! Perhaps you won't believe me but I have been cooking despite the nourishment I already get from nibbling on chubby baby appendages. There's been some chori-gamba pasta using a newly discovered local chorizo purveyor. There's been some Asian-style steamed fish. Some wonderful steaks with potatoes roasted in duck fat. And even a lovely loaf of banana bread to use some old bananas and a new recipe (will share this soon!). The only thing is, the jump from cooking to actual photographing and posting was just not happening.

Well, it's a new year (hello 2010!) and (fingers crossed!) I aim to journal more of my cooking and baking adventures here. I'm not only writing for me (and for you kind folk who still come back despite my wonky posting) but for little C as well...something for her to read in the future when (fingers crossed!) she discovers the joys of creating her own food :)


Before we move forward however, let me share a look back at what I made for my Christmas gifts (yes, I did manage some homemade gifts!) in 2009. Because of the move and renovation, and my iminent delivery, I couldn't make anything as involved as chutney or jam, or even manage baked goods of any kind. I did want to make something for Christmas though and I found the perfect goody in Jen's all-purpose red rub! No-cook, easy to throw together, and a wonderfully flavorful --- it certainly fit the bill for Christmas 2009 :) It's a great spice mix to have on hand and can work with so many different things. I've tried it with chicken and pork ribs to excellent results. I'm thinking of using it on some fish fillets next, and maybe in some baked beans!

I wish you all the best in 2010! May many dreams come true this year! :)