Off the Eaten Path Musings about food and life

too much of a good thing

Rudi should never be allowed to leave home, particularly if I am there and armed with a refrigerator full of ingredients. I decided to be adventurous and actually cook something today. Unfortunately, I followed Rudi's method and not my grandmother's. Gramma measures ingredients carefully and adjusts all her measurements based on how much she's making. Rudi, being blessed with some sort of natural cooking gene, just throws things together.

This does not seem to work for me.

I decided to use some of the fresh garlic and cannellinis we picked up at last week's farmers' market to make Tuscan-style white beans. But I didn't want to use half a pound -- just two handfuls.

Maybe I should have found out how much two handfuls measured out to. It was probably a 1/2 cup.

I cooked them with some dried sage, per the recipe, added salt (too much) and pepper and simmered until they were tender.

Then I added a clove of garlic.

This, of course, was not your generic bland garlic. This was a head of Silver Solitude, Solitude Farm's best and most potent garlic.

The recipe, back when it called for a 1/2 pound of beans, called for two cloves. I decided to ignore the math (which also would have required dividing the clove into some fraction) and just put the whole thing in.

Big mistake.

After adding the olive oil, I put it into a bowl and dug in for dinner.

I suspect I will reek of garlic for the next week.

I probably could have cut it with something, but the garlic had already gone to my brain, and I had no idea what to add. Tomatoes, maybe? Rice? Spaghetti?

I'm sure with slightly less (or less pungent) garlic, this would have been a fine meal. I will try it again sometime -- after doing the math.

The original recipe:

(From Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian Cooking)

• 1/2 pound white beans, washed and picked over
• 20 fresh sage leaves or 1T dried sage
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2T extra-virgin olive oil

1. Place the beans in a pot with water to cover. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. [I was using fresh, not dried, beans, so I just simmered them.] Add the sage; adjust the heat so the beans simmer. Cover loosely.

2. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans begin to soften; add about 1/2 tsp salt and some pepper. Continue to cook until the beans are very tender; add additional water if the beans dry out.

3. Drain the cooking liquid if necessary, then add the garlic, along with some more salt and pepper if necessary. Stir in the olive oil and serve.

The notes add that you can add some coooked sausage (an interesting note in a vegetarian cookbook) and sautéed red bell peppers to make this into a main course dish.

Makes 4 servings.