Egyptian Beans with Olive Oil (p. 251)

Saturday I went to three different international food stores in Raleigh. Who knew it would be so hard to find a couple of ingredients for upcoming recipes? I didn't.

I had visited Harmony Mediterranean Market in Cary a few weeks ago to pick up grape leaves so that I can make dolmas soon, but in the mean time I had some other recipes to try out and needed to find Greek gigantes (giant) beans as well as Egyptian fava beans, or ful (pronounced fool.) I'm also in the market for harissa which I made on my own last May but now I'd like to try what's available commercially.

My first stop Saturday (after an eggs benedict crepe at Crepes and Coffee, that is) was at Around the World Market on Hillsborough Street which looked totally promising. Alas, after wandering through the aisles for about 20 minutes I left empty handed and headed up the street to check out Neomonde, where I've eaten in a bunch of times but never checked out their market place. They had the harissa, but that was it.

I asked the guy at Neomonde's for a recommendation, and he sent me down Method Street to Almdaina Supermarket, where I still couldn't find everything I wanted, but finally ended up getting some packages of beans that I thought were close enough.

For the Greek gigantes beans, I picked up a bag of giant lima beans.

And for the ful, I grabbed these fava beans.

The rest of the stuff is for future recipes, but I used the fava beans yesterday, first soaking them over night. 

Drain the beans and cover them with fresh water in a pot. Cook at a low simmer, covered, for about an hour, until tender, and then strain them again (this time reserving the water.)

Combine a small amount of the beans with some of the reserved liquid, mixing with a fork until it creates a thick liquid. Stir in a paste of garlic and salt as well as fresh lemon juice, and then add the remaining beans into the bowl with olive oil.

Serve garnished with scallions, parsley, and lemon wedges.

When I first pulled the lid off the cooking beans I thought they smelled disgusting. But then I completed the recipe and tried a taste and it was amazing. I guess I just don't love the smell of fava beans, but once this was dressed with the olive oil, garlic, and lemon it completely changed things. I'm looking forward to the leftovers.

beans -- $1.99 (most of the bag is left)

scallions -- $.99

lemons -- $1.29 (half a lemon is left)

Total Cost of Egyptian Beans with Olive Oil: $4.27

($1.07 per serving)

Gratin of Fish and Spinach (p. 376)

I'm starting to run out of regular main course recipes in my cookbook, which is making me nervous. Pretty soon all I'm going to have left are veggies and desserts.

But it hasn't happened yet, and last night I made this lovely gratin which has just a few ingredients -- my perfect recipe!

Sauté freshly-washed spinach using only the water clinging to its leaves.

Separately, sauté garlic and chopped onion in olive oil until they have softened. When the spinach is tender, chop it coarsely and add it to the onion mixture along with salt and pepper and a little bit of Dijon mustard.

Make a little bed of this combination in the bottom of an oven-safe dish and then layer in your fish (I used a beautiful tuna steak.) Top with more of the spinach/onion and bread crumbs, and cook until the fish is done.

I liked the simplicity of this meal and would definitely eat it again. It came together in less than an hour (which is rare for recipes from The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook) so I was a happy camper! More time for bananagrams with Matt.

spinach -- $3.99

tuna steak -- $6.19

Total Cost of Gratin of Fish and Spinach: $10.18

($5.09 per serving)

Tuscan Onion Soup (p. 123)

Tuscan Onion Soup, or Carabaccia, is pretty similar to French Onion Soup, just without the layer of crusty cheese on top (but don't worry, there's still plenty of cheese in it.)

It also only requires a few steps, which I love. It's one of those recipes you can pretty much just set on the stovetop and let it make itself. In a nice large pot, sauté chopped pancetta (I used more than necessary because I already had it in the fridge leftover from the Walnut Stuffed Roasted Onions earlier this week), carrots, and parsley in olive oil. The recipe also called for celery in this step, but I had forgotten I needed it and finished off our celery with delicious hummus in my lunch yesterday. Whoops. I just left it out.

Once the pancetta has begun to release its fat, add thinly sliced onions to the pot, cover it, and let simmer at a very low heat for about an hour. The onions shouldn't brown at all, just keep them at such a low temperature that they become super soft but shouldn't really need to be checked on throughout.

Once the onions are super soft and golden, add in a little white wine and chicken stock and simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir in parmesan and add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve piping hot with more parmesan cheese to top off the bowls at the table.

This was lovely on a cold wintery day (we're having snow flurries!), and tasted just like delicious French Onion Soup. I would totally make this again, it was easy and would be a great small starter before a meal.

onions -- $1.79

white wine -- $2.99 (I bought a cheap small bottle that actually provided a couple of semi-decent glasses for me to drink, as well -- bonus!)

Total Cost of Tuscan Onion Soup: $4.78

($1.59 per serving)