On Thu 11 Jan 2001, "A. V." <acv_cm@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> my father recommended butter beans to me but i've never had them, and i
> don't know any recipies for them. any suggestions? i can't think that i've
> even herd of them before. thanks!
There is a huge debate about whether butter beans are lima beans, or
baby lima beans, or what. I get the impression that they're at least
similar to lima beans, anyway, and never having seen a lima bean to my
knowledge, I'll leave it to others to untangle that one.
Here's a great butter bean recipe that I've posted on this list
before, though not for some years. I think I like butter beans pureed
rather than whole, but I'd be interested in seeing any nice stew
recipes for them that don't end up with them collapsing to a mush.
Kake
* Butter Bean Sausages *
A tested recipe from <URL:http://www.ox.compsoc.net/~kake/cookery>.
This recipe is adapted from Sue Kreitzmann's _Complete Low-Fat
Cookbook_. The sausages have a rather strange colour, thanks to the
red wine, but are truly delicious, and they freeze well. If serving
at a party, make small `bites' instead of sausages, and triple the
recipe (at least).
* Serves 2 - 3 *
125g (4oz) aubergine (eggplant), peeled and chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
pinch chilli powder (optional)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
100ml (4 fl oz) dry red wine
100ml (4 fl oz) vegetable stock, made with cube
1 425g (15 oz) can butter beans
1 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs
2 tbsp each orange and lemon juice
salt and freshly-ground black pepper
To coat the sausages:
25g (1 oz) breadcrumbs
2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1. Combine the aubergine, onion, chilli powder, garlic, wine and stock
in a small frying pan. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer briskly for
7 minutes. Uncover, and continue to cook, stirring, until the onion is
very soft and the liquid is gone, adding more water as needed.
2. Put the aubergine mixture in a blender with the butter beans,
breadcrumbs and juices. Puree until smooth and season to taste.
3. Chill the mixture in the fridge for at least an hour.
4. Meanwhile, put the breadcrumbs in the blender with the nutritional
yeast and process until *very* fine.
5. Spread the crumbs on a plate, and drop spoonfuls of the bean
mixture on top. Carefully roll around to form sausages, coated with
the crumbs. Make about 10.
6. Open freeze on a bag spread on a baking sheet, or cook under the
grill (broiler) for about 5 minutes on each side until browned. Be
careful - they are fragile until the crust has formed. You can cook
them from frozen in the same way, for slightly longer.