Butter beans

[Viv]

What are they called over here?

Could they be haricot blanc? They seem a bit small or something called haricot lingots, which I have never seen except on the side of a packet.

[Opalienne]

I just bought some fresh ones in Brussels and will cook them tonight (with garlic, chili, lardons, chorizo, onions and tomatoes - really good).   Here in Belgium they are haricots de Lima

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Haricot lingots are just anothor white bean - used to make cassoulet, I

think. I've seen butter beans only in shops selling middle Eastern

foods, and I've never seen them refered to in French as anything other

than "gros haricot blanc" which rather suggests that they might not

figure large in the national cusine!

[Clair]

[quote user="jond"]Haricot lingots are just anothor white bean - used to make cassoulet, I

think. I've seen butter beans only in shops selling middle Eastern

foods, and I've never seen them refered to in French as anything other

than "gros haricot blanc" which rather suggests that they might not

figure large in the national cusine! [/quote]

haricot du Cap, haricot dit de Lima, haricot de Lima

You're right Jond, they're not widely used as there are so many other haricots widely available...

My favourite haricots are flageolets verts served warm to accomapny a gigôt d'agneau (saignant of course!) à l'ail or cold en vinaigrette with sliced red onions and tuna... Miam miam!

[Viv]

[quote user="Clair"][quote user="jond"]Haricot lingots are just anothor white bean - used to make cassoulet, I think. I've seen butter beans only in shops selling middle Eastern foods, and I've never seen them refered to in French as anything other than "gros haricot blanc" which rather suggests that they might not figure large in the national cusine! [/quote]
haricot du Cap, haricot dit de Lima, haricot de Lima
You're right Jond, they're not widely used as there are so many other haricots widely available...

My favourite haricots are flageolets verts served warm to accomapny a gigôt d'agneau (saignant of course!) à l'ail or cold en vinaigrette with sliced red onions and tuna... Miam miam!
[/quote]

I have tried a  recipe for gigôt d'agneau with flageolet verts, which I saw on th side of the packet for dried flageolets and it was really nice, but this is a recipe for butter bean soup with crispy bacon by Raymond Blanc ( BBC website), which I thought would make a tasty cheap lunch. I like trying different recipes for beans and pulses as I don't use them as much as I should and they are so healthy and economical.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Last year someone served us a gigot

entier slow roasted (GM1 for about five hours - hardly saignant) over flageolets verts so that the fat mingled with

them and turned them into a sort of oncious mush and the meat fell from the

bone...this really was rather good.

I've had problems in France trying to persuade restaurateurs to serve this Englishman meat

cooked on the rare side, so ingrained amongst some is the belief that I could

not possibly want to eat it. In Paris once I asked for a steak tartare. The muppet who took the order

scurried off to fetch the maitre d'hôtel, who, much to the crushing embarrassment

of my wife and I, insisted that what I wanted (and indeed was going get) was a

nice entrecote, well done. That wasn’t even on the menu… Eventually, and very

reluctantly I was given what I had asked for, and the staff hovered around to

see whether or not I would actually eat it. Silly sods.

[Viv]

Ah !

I just don't think the French have got the hang of beef ( sorry Clair)

I like my beef dark almost maroon with yellow fat, but everywhere I go it's blood red.

I am happy that I can get fillet of beef far, far cheaper than in the UK but a sirloin costs a ridiculous price and its nowhere near as good.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="viva"]

Ah !

I just don't think the French have got the hang of beef ( sorry Clair)

I like my beef dark almost maroon with yellow fat, but everywhere I go it's blood red.

I am happy that I can get fillet of beef far, far cheaper

than in the UK but a sirloin costs a ridiculous price and its nowhere

near as good.

[/quote]

It does rather depend, I think. We've got a couple of local butchers

who really know their suppliers and get the most incredible beef. It

took us a while to find them though...if you're cooking more with

beans, have you tried Rose Elliot's "The Bean Book?" I'm not vegetarian

(well, I was once, but it was only part of a complex plot to get

girls), but this book is really excellent.

[Patf]

There is a type of bean, haricot de Soisson, which looks more like a

butter bean. I bought some in Intermarche a while ago and can't

remember if the were raw or pre-cooked. I think the word " haricot " is

a generic word for bean in france. Pat.

[Viv]

[quote user="jond"] 

 I'm not vegetarian (well, I was once, but it was only part of a complex plot to get girls), but this book is really excellent.
[/quote]

That's a new one on me! I could see how the "no snap in his turtle " as seen on Friends (yes I admit to watching it first time round) would work with us women, but not vegetarianism. Did you ever go for walks with cute looking babies, that was supposed to work as well.

Anyway, I haven't tried the recipes in that bean book, I sort of like beans as an alternative to potatoes but I do need my meat!

[Val_2]

Plenty of butter beans to be found with the dried peas and beans in the supermarkets. Make sure you soak them well overnight first.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="viva"][quote user="jond"] 

 I'm not vegetarian (well, I was once, but it was only part of

a complex plot to get girls), but this book is really excellent.

[/quote]

That's a new one on me! I could see how the "no snap in

his turtle " as seen on Friends (yes I admit to watching it first time

round) would work with us women, but not vegetarianism. Did you ever go

for walks with cute looking babies, that was supposed to work as well.

Anyway, I haven't tried the recipes in that bean book, I sort of like beans as an alternative to potatoes but I do need my meat!

[/quote]

Ah - I said it was a complex plot rather than a successful

one, but then teenaged boys go through an extremely unappealing stage

in their physical development and will try almost anything.

Re. Lima / Butter beans. It does sound as though they might be more

easily available in other parts of this Great Nation: here, our

selection of dried pulses is very limited. No pinto beans, nor black

beans, let alone anything more complex. The seeds can be had from the

likes of Baumaux, and growing them is dead easy (good for the soil

too). We eat pulses in one form or another four or five times week.

[Opalienne]

If you can get the fresh ones they're much better (and quicker to cook).    I forgot the thyme in yesterday's idea for them, BTW.

[Christine Animal]

.. and not to be confused with "haricot beurre" which is a different type of bean, string bean but yellow.

 

[Missy]

If you are after beans the size of the english butter bean, you need to look for 'Haricot de Soisson'. They are slightly bigger than the butter bean but just as delicious. Prepare and cook the same as any other dried beans (haricot sec). Very easy to grow too if you are green fingered.

[Viv]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Is it just red kidney beans that are toxic if they aren't soaked and boiled properly?

[Missy]

Red kidneys are slightly toxic but beans, on the whole, if not cooked well are very hard on your stomach/digestive system. So cook them maybe 10 minutes more than recommended on recipes, add a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and/or a big handful of fresh mint. Grand-Mother's tricks to lessens the after effects of eating beans - if you don't want to be taxed for polluting the ozone layer [;)] !