Recipe: Giant Beans Plaki-Style with Potato Skordalia, Honey and Mint (Greek)

GIANT BEANS PLAKI-STYLE WITH HONEY AND MINT



"On every return to Greece, when I ask for a welcoming meal of Gigantes, my friends know to cook the Giant Beans Plaki-Style to melt my heart. There could hardly be a better choice to reconnect me with my adopted land. My Greek almost-family would like to give me a sumptuous meal and giant beans are not their idea of luxury, but it is mine. I can get a chop anywhere, but Greece's huge white beans, softened and simmered with tomato and onion until the sauce is the bean and the bean is the sauce - that's as rare as caviar. As a perfect complement, my choice is not champagne but rather ordinary Brousko, the village red, right from the barrel.

Not quite classic, my version of giant beans plaki is perked up with mint and, for a sweet touch, a swirl of honey and vinegar. Gigantes, a colossal white bean, are hard to find except in Greek markets, but you can use dried limas, small white navy beans, or black-eyed peas. The Brousko Well, you would have to go to a village, have them fill a bottle, and smuggle it home, so instead pick up a hearty rustic red wine."

1 pound dried gigantes beans*
1/2 cup olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1/2 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves, or 1 teaspoon dried
2 whole cloves
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cups water
1/2 cup Potato Skordalia (recipe follows)
1 tablespoon shredded fresh mint leaves

Place the beans in a large saucepan and add water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, cook for 1 minute, then remove from the heat. Set aside to soak for 1 hour.

Drain the beans, rinse them, and set them aside in a colander.

Heat the oil in a large nonreactive pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, and celery and saute until wilted, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaf, oregano, cloves, honey, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Simmer until the mixture is well blended and a sauce has formed, about 10 minutes.

Add the 3 cups water and the beans and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat and simmer briskly until the beans are very tender and some of their skins are breaking apart, 1 to 2 hours, depending on the age of the beans.

Remove the pot from the heat, swirl in the skordalia, and sprinkle on the mint. Serve right away or at room temperature.

*If you substitute dried limas, white beans, or black-eyed peas, dried limas and black-eyed peas cook in the same time as the giant beans; smaller white beans require about 1 1/2 hours of cooking to soften completely.

POTATO SKORDALIA
Makes about 2 cups

1 large russet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/3 cup blanched almonds
15 cloves garlic
1 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Place the potato in a small saucepan and add water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until soft all the way through, about 10 minutes. Drain.

Transfer the potato to a food processor (see note). Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Use right away, or cover and store in the refrigerator for as long as overnight.

NOTE: You don't need a food processor to make skordalia - most Greeks make the beloved paste by hand. To do so, pulverize the nuts with a mortar and nestle, and transfer them to a bowl. In another bowl, mash the potato or bread with a fork or potato masher; add to the nuts. Press or mince the garlic and add it; then pour in the oil, vinegar, and salt. Blend well

Makes 6 servings
Source: The Olive and the Caper by Susanna Hoffman