Dirty Haricots

Aaaahhh the joys of summer and the simplicity of its cooking… If there is a veg that was always present on the August table was the green bean, or, like we called it “haricot vert”. My mother and grandmother used to simply boil them for a while ( I like to leave them with a crunch so 5 min in boiling water will do). It often accompanied a pork loin roast, with tomatoes and roasted garlic. To be honest, I just enjoy them like so, with or without meat… With a crumble of cheese at the end. Nice…

First, cut both ends of the bean and try to remove the stringy part from the middle. Depending on the time of year it can be a bit more stringy. What I mean is, the older they are, the tougher it’s gonna be so try to get them young. A good clear snap should be a great indicator…

Ok, your beans are washed and chopped, bring a pot of salted water to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes or so. The salt is going to help the bean keeps its green, so don’t freak out too much, very little gets actually absorbed by the haricot.

Gather the other ingredients, tomatoes, and a whole bulb of garlic. For the herbs, fresh thyme or oregano, salt and pepper…

Place your halved tomatoes on a tray, with loads of olive oil, fresh thyme or fresh oregano. Cut the bulb of garlic at its base and roast with the tomatoes at 200c, for about 20 minutes at least until nice and golden…

Like this. Put the haricots green beans back in the pot, with the tomatoes and the roasted cloves of garlic that you have removed from the bulb…

And that’s it really folks! If you want a bit extra, I crumbled a bit of Bellingham Rua, Shropshire Blue like cheese from Co. Louth, but good aul Parmigiano Reggiano, Pecorino or a dry Irish Goat’s cheese like Knockdrinna will do the trick just nice too!

Enjoy folks!

Keep well, Eat Happy

Slán Tamall

Franck