SC - Another Novice Recipe Challange

[Northon]

>From the Forme of Cury, recipe # 189:
 >
 >"Benes yfryed. Take benes and see6 hem almost til 6ey bersten. Take
and
 >wryng out 6e water clene. Do 6erto oynouns ysode and ymynced, and
garlec
 >6erwith; frye hem in oile o6er in grece, & do 6erto powder douce, &
 >serue it forth."
 >
Hi, Tamsin here (smile, wave)...I thought I'd risk it and give redaction
on the list a try too.

First off, I translated the recipe into modern terms I'm familiar with:

Beans Fried.  Take beans and cook until tender.  Drain and rinse.  Add
some onions that were parboiled and minced, and some garlic too; fry the
whole mess up in oil or grease, and add some "sweet" powdered spices,
then serve it.

Some things bothered me a bit, so I started to check out some cooking
methods and times for beans, onions, and garlic.  I looked up references
for types of beans.  I looked up the ingredients for powder douce just
to verify the flavors.  I even asked an Italian (immigrated here when he
was 13 from the Italian Alps of Italy) friend of mine about specific
kinds of beans (he grows several in his garden).  I came up with some
new thoughts and the following:

Fried Beans

1 qt garden-fresh, shelled Fava Beans
1 medium yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp pork grease
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
2 Tbsp white sugar

Cover the garden-fresh, shelled fava beans with boiling water in a
saucepan over high heat.  Allow the water to return to a boil, reduce
the heat to a simmer, cover and cook beans until JUST tender,
approximately 15 minutes.  Drain and rinse the beans.

While the beans are cooking, blanch the onion in boiling water about 10
seconds.  Remove to cold water.  Allow to cool, slide off the onion
skin, then mince.  Do the same for the garlic, blanching for
approximately 2 minutes, remove skin and mince fine.

Heat a large skillet over LOW heat.  Add the pork grease.  When the
grease has melted and come up to temperature, add both the onions and
garlic.  Sautee SLOWLY until the onions turn golden brown, about 15
minutes.  Stir frequently to prevent scorching or burning.

Add the drained beans to the garlic/onion mixture.  Add the sugar,
cinnamon, and ginger at the same time.  Continue to sautee another 2-3
minutes to insure the beans are heated through and all ingredients are
well coated.  Be carefull not to break the beans open.

Turn into a bowl and serve.

(By the way, Fava beans are in season right now here in the Pacific
Northwest if you grow your own.)

Well, how'd I do?

Tamsin de Lesseley of Seabeck
Lori Rael Northon
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