17 March 2009

Crème d'haricots coco

En français ici.
I've been posting less often lately, so it naturally begs the question: where is Hopie??

A) In the kitchen whipping up something to eat quickly because she's late for something
B) Going to the theater
C) Learning Spanish because, well, two languages are nice, but three are better
D) Researching plays for a project that will hopefully take place next year
E) Babysitting
F) Using her natural English skills to help a French composer write her songs
G) All of the above and more, which explains why she hasn't been posting, for goodness sake!

If you think you have the answer, feel free to leave it in the comments ;-)

Meanwhile, though I've been running from one thing to the next these days, we still have to eat and I've been relying once or twice on the "suggested recipe" that comes every week with my CSA. Most of the recipes are very basic, but if there's an ingredient you've never cooked with, they can be helpful. That was the case with last week's influx of white coco beans (haricots coco) and I dutifully tried their crème de coco (which sounds like it should include chocolate, but unfortunately doesn't). The only real change I made was to crumble crispy bacon on top and serve some on the side. Can you blame me? This was delicious, and there were some dried beans left over so I think I will be making it again.



For 4 people

400g (2 cups) dried white coco beans
2 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
1 cube of chicken or vegetable bouillon
1 small strip bacon (plus as many as you like for garnish and eating on the side)(you can also leave this out if you're vegetarian and it will still be good)
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 clove garlic, peeled and halved
15cl (3/4 cup) heavy cream
pepper
salt

Let the white coco beans soak for 24 hours in cold water before cooking.

Put the beans in a large pot with the thyme, bay leaf, bouillon cube, bacon strip, onion, and garlic. Cover with water, pepper to taste and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let simmer 45 minutes.

Take out the bay leaf and the strip of bacon and purée the rest, incorporating the cream. Salt moderately and serve hot.

10 comments:

Cicero Sings said...

Spanish! Good for you. My sister took Spanish in high school (we were living in the States at the time) and then went on to learn some French, Italian and German. Her husband was Italian. While she has a real flair for languages ... this poor girl has none. Though being Canadian, we had to learn a spattering of French in high school. I also took a bit of German as we lived in a German community at the time.

Glad to hear all is well by you ... just busy.

Anonymous said...

Bouillon cube?!? You must be busy!!! But seriously, how come you get all these cool dried beans and things and all I get are carrots and leeks?

PG said...

Any of those answers sound like great ways to occupy your time! Good thing that the CSA includes a recipe. I'm thinking of signing up for it over the summer.

Sam said...

I'm impresses that you have time to do all that and post anything at all!

The beans sound really tasty, adding bacon was a great idea.

Hopie said...

Cicero - I started taking Spanish at the end of high school and took some in college too but I skipped a couple of the "practical" grammar and conversation classes because I had French classes that were at the same time for my major. As a result, I decided it was time to catch up on my conversation skills!

Camille - Seriously! I hardly have time to cook at all, much less make stock! Ack. As for the panier bio, guess you should have taken Fridays ;-) hehe

Psychgrad - You should definitely try. It's fun stuff. Good for your eating habits and for the earth!

Sam - Thanks! I don't want to get TOO far behind on sharing yummy recipes.

Just Cook It said...

I love the name of this dish - 'arry co co co'. So great to say

Katharine said...

Looks lovely and sounds yummy. Do the beans have any flavor themselves? -Mum

Ivy said...

Wow, you are busy Hopie and yet you find the time to blog in two languages as well. Your haricots sound delicious.

Hopie said...

Just Cook It - Ha! Sounds like it should be a reggae song!

Mom - Yes, they do but it's subtle compared to some other beans.

Ivy - Thank you for the encouragement!

Tony said...

I've never even seen white coco beans. This recipe looks pretty good, though.

Also - Yay Spanish! That means someone else I can speak with in Spanish!