Flat Beans Braised in White Wine and Butter – The Vegetarian Mediterranean
I’m sure it’s not just myself who feels that life these days is more rushed than it has ever been. With everything available at a whim, we have re-programmed our brains into believing that everything should and can be achieved immediately. We have little sense of patience and are constantly increasing the pace of our day to day lives. My little baby is now 10 days over due, and the doctor is advising us to get her out. He is basing this “over due” date on an average of when most women give birth, but not on the current health of mom and baby. We were being rushed to induce on Wednesday, but the hospital was booked, so he booked us in for Saturday. Does this sound strange to you? What’s the logic behind that? And what was his sense of urgency to artificially bring on labour on Wednesday when he is so easily willing to wait till Saturday? In my opinion, and from what we’ve discussed with the midwives, 14 days from that fictional due date is an acceptable waiting period. This will give little Sara till Tuesday to get her act together and come out. So if both mom and baby are doing well for now, what’s the rush in getting her out immediately?
My friend’s baby was 14 days overdue, and according to him, babies are better over cooked than under cooked. Other things that are sometimes better over cooked are vegetables. These days, I feel we have a tendency to under cook them; rushing them; asking them to come out before they are done. There’s no denying that in stir-fries, under cooked is best, but with Mediterranean cooking, often, over cooked is even better. Take for example these Italian flat beans that I braised in white wine, butter and vegetable stock. It took them around an hour to cook, but once done, they had absorbed all that white wine and the braise was enriched with the creaminess of the butter. The beans pods were delicious, but the real stars were the seeds that became as soft as bone marrow and beautifully carried the flavours of the garlic, onion as well as the braise. Something this delicious would not be achievable in half the time, would it? I wish we could all have some more patience and maybe we can appreciate and accept that certain things take longer to develop.
Flat Beans Braised in White Wine and Butter Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 kilo flat Italian beans with both ends removed
- 4 crushed garlic cloves
- 2 large onions, diced or sliced or quartered
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 cups white wine
- 2 cups of vegetable stock or water
- salt and pepper to taste
Method
- In a lidded pot that fits all the ingredients fry the garlic and onions gently in olive oil without colouring them
- Add the wine, ramp up the heat and boil for 10 minutes
- Add the stock and the beans along with some salt
- Cover and cook for 45 minutes
- Add the butter
- Cover and cook for a further 15 minutes until the beans are extremely tender
- Add salt and pepper to taste
- Eat cold or hot and served with a wedge of lemon
11 Responses to “Flat Beans Braised in White Wine and Butter – The Vegetarian Mediterranean”
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Lovely recipe, thanks.
Good luck with the birth. It is such a special and exciting time.
I admire your partner’s patience – I couldn’t wait to get all 3 of mine out, didn’t like the discomfort!
Look at it this way, we don’t follow all recipes with precision to end up with the perfect dish. I’m sure little Sara will come out just right
Corinne @ Gourmantic´s last [type] ..Bastille Day Celebration Dinner in Sydney
There’s something about the phrase “overcooked baby” that sounds ever so wrong. lol.
Helen (grabyourfork)´s last [type] ..Ipoh bean sprouts- Concubine Lane and Funny Mountain Soy Milk
As long as all the signs are fine, little Sara will come out when she’s damn ready to! Strong personality that little girl, you’re going to have a lot of fun as parents! Totally agree that some veg are better overcooked than under!
Moya´s last [type] ..Sydney Good Food & Wine Show 2010
This sounds soooo good. I love green beans, we can eat them as simply as boiled and made as a salad with garlic, salt, lemon and olive oil dressing.
These sound heavenly.
I agree about the rush nowadays, it is amazing how everyone can get caught in it.
Congrats for the baby, may she live long and healthy. My bro is expecting a boy sometime next week.
Viviane´s last [type] ..Bulgarian Cheese Stuffed Chicken Rolls
We Sara’s cannot be rushed, we take our time and will be ready when we are ready
If bubs and mum are healthy and there are no medical reasons to induce, then why? All my best to all three of you, won’t be long now.
Beans sound delicious.
sara (Belly Rumbles)´s last [type] ..Daring Cooks’ Challenge- July – Nut Butters
You must be on hot coals! Blogging is a good way to keep your mind focused on other things besides due dates and doctor’s opinions; these beans look great!
tasteofbeirut´s last [type] ..Kibbeh balls in eggplant sauce
Please let us know when your baby arrives! We’re thinking of all of you….
I’ve only just found your blog, it’s wonderful! Thank you for such thoughtful and beautifully written and dissertations on food, and life too.
Good luck with the birth…judging by today’s date, it must already have happened! Hope everything went well.
V
Hope that you will have a healthy baby and your right babies are better to stay in the womb than being premature. So take care of your baby with all your love and caring and by the way thanks for the recipe. I’ll try making that one this coming Christmas with Sauvignon Blanc if its good. Thank you for the post.
Thanks for your lovely comment Heritage Link Brands
A Sauv Blanc should work a treat!