Boulangerie Beans and Potatoes

Yesterday I pulled out my trusty How To Cook Everything Vegetarian to find myself something for dinner.  I’ve been in the mood for beans, so I went straight to the legume section to find something to inspire me.  My one condition for whatever I ended up making was that I wanted it dairy free.

I’d had a couple of days where it seemed to me that I was eating a lot of dairy- cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and on Wednesday I felt off- a little queasy almost- all day long.  So I thought about what I’d been eating, and decided to lay off the dairy for a few days and see if my system would sort of re-set itself. Yesterday’s dairy-free zone did the trick, and by the end of the day I felt normal, and today I feel just fine.  I need to think more about this no-dairy thing, and in in the weeks to come, I plan to do an entire week dairy free.  As it turns out, it’s harder than you would think to avoid milk, cheese, and butter altogether.

But back to the beans.  The recipe I chose was Boulangerie Beans and Potatoes.  The story behind the dish is that boulangerie potatoes is a classic French dish which was made while bread was baking.  It’s something that bread bakers would toss together, and then toss into the bread oven to bake all day long.  At supper time, when the baker’s were tired of hot ovens and cookery all day long, their potatoes would be ready and waiting for them, and absolutely delicious.

This variation included beans, and with just six ingredients -including salt and pepper- this just sounded too easy to be good.  After a quick stop at the store to pick up some potatoes, and after simmering some dried beans on the stove, I was ready to assemble my dish.  (By the way, tomorrow I’ll be posting a weekend extra on how to cook dried beans to use like canned beans.  It’s really easy, and something I probably should have posted ages ago.)  The assembly was quick.  My beans were tossed with fresh thyme (which I had frozen from the garden) salt and pepper, and in the end, I decided to go with the smoked paprika variation, and added smoked paprika as well.  Then the beans were place in a baking dish.  Potatoes were sliced and layered over the bean, followed by a drizzle of stock, and more seasonings. Oh, and butter, which I realize is dairy, but I happened to have some Earth Balance Buttery Sticks on hand, so it stayed dairy free. Doesn’t it look good just like this?

This was covered with foil and placed in a 325ºF oven for 45 minutes, after which time I removed the foil and gave it another 45 minutes.  While it cooked, I made the kids their dinner, and tossed a quick salad to go with my beans and potatoes.  When I pulled the dish out of the oven, I was concerned.  First of all, there was no brown glazey action going on, and secondly, there was no liquid in the bottom of my pan.  I was worried that I’d ruined it, and was a little hesitant to give it a try.  I’m very glad that I did.  I don’t know if it was the vegan butter, the fact that I cut the recipe in half or what, but my results were reversed, and in fact the beans on the bottom were slightly browned and caramelized- they were fantastic!  The potatoes were nicely seasoned, tender, and the perfect counterpoint to the slightly chewy caramelized beans.  The smoked paprika and thyme married perfectly as a seasoning, and overall, I was really pleased with how this dish came out.

Bittman gives several variations on this recipe in his book, and I have to say, after this success, I’m really eyeing up the leek variation.  I would love to try this with a different kind of bean, and I think that were I to make this for a main dish while Andy is home, I would add some sliced smoked sausage to the beans.  I thought it was very good how it was though, and will definitely be making it again.  I loved that it was simply something different. It was also uber-cheap to make.  I used the new red potatoes, which a handful for one person is less than a dollar at my store, and dried beans go for less than two dollars for a full pound, less than one dollar for some varieties.  If you used regular baking potatoes, the cost would probably be even less.  It was delicious, and just posting about it, I’m getting hungry and looking forward to lunch today.

Boulangerie Beans and Potatoes

from HTCEV by Mark Bittman

Makes 4 servings

2 tablespoons fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried), divided

3 cups cooked white beans, drained, but still moist (use beans cooked from dried- not canned)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 medium russet or other high-starch baking potatoes, peeled

1 cup vegetable stock

3 tablespoons butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325ºF.  Stir 1 tablespoon of thyme into the beans, taste, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Spread the beans in a baking dish and set aside.

Halve the potatoes lengthwise and thinly slice into half-circles.  Lay the potatoes in overlapping rows to cover the beans.  Pour the stock over the top, dot with pieces of butter, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and the remaining thyme.

Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.  Remove the foil and continue baking until the top is browned and glazed, another 45 minutes or so.  Serve immediately, or let rest for up to an hour and serve at room temperature.

Creamy Boulangerie Beans and Potatoes: A little luxury, and no work: Add 1/2 cup cream to the beans.

Tomatoey Boulangerie Beans and Potatoes: Prettier, with a little acidity and more flavor: Add 1 cup chopped ripe tomato (canned is fine, drain first) or about 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried or Oven Dried tomatoes to the beans.

Boulangerie Beans and Potatoes with Leeks: Approaching elegance: Cook 2 cups chopped leeks in butter until very soft-almost melting-about 20 minutes.  Top the beans with the leeks and the potato slices.

Boulangerie Beans and Potatoes with Spanish Paprika: The smokiness of the paprika is so good with thyme: Add about a tablespoon of smoked Spanish paprika to the beans and sprinkle some over the potatoes before baking if you’d like.

Boulangerie Beans and Sweet Potatoes: Use pinto beans and sweet potatoes.  Stir into the beans a tablespoon or so of Worcestershire sauce, and add a pinch of ground allspice or cinnamon if you’d like.  Proceed with the recipe; sprinkle the top with brown sugar before baking.