Sunday, July 22, 2007

Garlic In An Olive Oil, Balsamic, Rosemary Reduction ... With Beans

You could've knocked me over with a feather...

... when I saw the Garlic Filling that Tanna, of My Kitchen in Half Cups, had made to put into a garlic bread that she and her friend Sue were making during one veeerrrry long and hilarious bread making process and thank heavens they had wine!
Me, I stopped at the garlic filling. My god. The ingredients. The cooking process. My head was spinning with the possibilities of what to pair with it.
Tanna says she adapted this recipe from one in the bread book, Exceptional Breads by Dan Lepard, which seems to be available through Amazon in Canada and the UK, but not yet in the US. Weird.

As I was drooling all over my keyboard at that garlic filling, we lost power. Thunk. When that happens, we turn everything off, hunker down and try not to use water (community well and all that). At first, PG&E said power would be restored within 2 to 3 hours. That was at 1:00 p.m. yesterday. We got our power back this morning around 10. (Update: The power went off again at 1 p.m. and didn't come back on until 9 that night. Grrr.)

Not being able to be online or anything else that uses electricity, I started peeling garlic and, using our old Wedgewood stove that keeps me cooking through hail, snow, sleet, rain and power outages, made this exceptionally delicious garlic stuff of Tanna's. Then I made Rancho Gordo's Good Mother Stallard beans (sorry folks, our temp highs are in the 60s these days). Then I put the two of them together. What can I say? It was exceptional.

Go here for the garlic recipe. I didn't fully reduce the liquid as I knew I wouldn't be using it in bread and wanted to retain some of that flavorful olive oil.

Go here for how to cook the beans.

Put 'em together. Mash 'em a little if you want and use as a spread on your favorite cracker. Or just grab a spoon and dig in. Or take them sailing, which is what we're about to do. I'll be making this again soon. Like tomorrow. Thank you Tanna!


Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

9 comments:

  1. Well, I, for one, had my toes curl in pleasure thinking of such a comfy combo. Mmmmm!

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  2. You're sweet, Nerissa. Thanks!

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  3. I heard from Simona about the power outage too. What a drag. But it sounds like you definitely made the best of it. This sounds just fantastic.

    BTW, I realized that when I photographed my food goodies from the SF people I forgot to get the can of tuna out of the cupboard. I just keep screwing up! Sorry about that, but I'm definitely looking forward to eating it.

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  4. Oh my yes Christine . . . BEANS! Totally wonderful beans with that garlic reduction! Makes me almost glad the lights went out if it prompted this combo. I think this is stunning, maybe that just because I love beans totally.
    I'm so glad you did this.

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  5. Hi Kalyn,
    You can thank Tanna for my inspiration. The minute I saw this on her blog my mind spun off into that heavenly place in the mind where food ideas happen. And
    no problem about forgetting the tuna. I know that when you taste it you won't forget it ever again.:)

    They were a match made in heaven, Tanna. Especially with Gordo's beans, which are so plump and fresh. I'm making the garlic again tonight and am going to pair it with fried red & yellow sweet mini-peppers and a good artisan bread. Drool!

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  6. I just love those pictures. I made a promise to myself to eat more beans and that is just the recipe for me. It looks so earthy and elegant all at once!

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  7. You've nailed it, Sher. Earthy, elegant and delicious!

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  8. Yowza!!! That looks just heavenly heavenly heavenly. I've got to try it right away. What a beautiful idea. And though I understand that the loss of power is not a fun thing, it sounds so cozy, you peeling garlic by the wood stove...

    And I must look into getting some of those beans. They're wonderful!

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  9. I made this tonight and it was delicious! I didn't have any special beans (and I accidentally overcooked my beans) but it was still quite yummy. Good comfort food too, since my husband and I are both feeling crummy from allergies. I love comfort food that isn't bad for you!

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