On this Blog we've had political reflection, we've had musical commentary, we've even had unabashed nostalgia. What we haven't yet had is the cookery section.
One of our old pals on the Aberdeen Voice website, the wonderfully talented Fred Wilkinson passed a remark that he wanted our bean stew recipe. Regular readers of Golf Tango Foxtrot will know that the bean stew is one of our favourites.
So then, this is the time to mix cooking, culture and politics. My bean stew is really an adaptation of the Greek dish, the name of which translates as "Giant Beans". I would give you the name in Greek but I haven't worked out how to make this keyboard do the Greek alphabet. To be truthful, it struggles with the Latin alphabet.
I first ate this dish in a wonderful restaurant in the City of Ioannina in Epirus, the province of Greece which borders Albania. The restaurant was called in Greek HbH, (pronounced "Evie"). A great Epirot greasy spoon cafe. Super food well fitted to sustain a day of hard manual labour.
GTF's GREEK BEAN STEW
Ingredients;
Two tins of Butter Beans
One tin of chopped tomatoes ( Beans and tomatoes in the proportion of 2:1)
Olive Oil (Greek co-operative Olive Oil for preference)
Oregano, fresh or dried
Optional;
Chorizo Sausage or similar
Fresh or picked Chillies
Method;
Drain and rinse the tins of Butter Beans. If you have time on your hands make this from scratch with dried beans soaked overnight and cooked. If you are cooking beans from dried, be sure to boil them hard to remove any potential toxins. If using tinned beans it's important to rinse out the starch and sugars from the water in the tin.
Over a moderate heat pour a good dollop of Olive Oil into a saucepan. Almost always use more Oil than you think you should. This is a RICH and wonderfully oily dish.
Add the beans and stir about. It's important not to overheat. You don't want to fry the Beans, just heat them through. I've often heard it said in Greece that food should not be too hot as this kills the goodness. There's something in this I think.
Next add the tin of chopped tomatoes. Stir again.
Add Oregano fresh or dried. Stir to combine.
This is the time to add Chillies or chopped Chorizo sausage if you are using them.
Allow all the flavours to meld over a low heat. The longer the better really.
Serve with bread to soak up the rich sauce. Enjoy.
A super meal and one which is filling and cheap. And now, since we are on the subject of food, lets move to the GTF never fail creamy scrambled eggs.
If like me you enjoy creamy scrambled eggs and not dry crumbly institutional scrambled eggs you will have suffered frequent disappointment over the years.
So often the anticipation of smooth, rich creamy scrambled eggs is dashed by the reality of dry,crumbly unappealing lumps of congealed yellowness. Time now to share;
GTF NEVER FAIL CREAMY SCRAMBLED EGGS
Ingredients;
Eggs (Free Range two per person)
Olive Oil (more than you think)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Method;
Whisk the eggs and the oil together to form an emulsion and add to a saucepan over a gentle heat.
Stir, and keep stirring till the mixture condenses to your preferred consistency. This is a dish requiring some watching and input but the end result more than justifies the effort. Salt and pepper to taste and serve on toast.
Good Olive Oil with a mild, sweet flavour is a necessity. Make this dish with industrial grade Olive Oil and the results will disappoint.
Olive Oils flavoured with Basil or other herbs are a nice variation on the basic recipe.
Well that's enough of the cooking for now. Back to normal.
One of the things I have noticed about the Referendum debate is that it seems to be the case that people are moving from NO to YES. I haven't heard of anyone moving from YES to NO. Unless dear reader you know differently?
The recent council elections in England with a 26% vote for UKIP have fairly galvanised thinking here in Scotland. The resultant lurch to the right by both Tory and Labour leaves us cold up here.
If we vote NO there is every chance that UKIP will be in the next Westminster Government and take us out of the European Union. They could end up being the next government that Scotland didn't vote for. I hate their anti-immigration, anti-European agenda. The only way to insure against that fate is to vote YES.
As a young man I was grateful for the fact that I could readily find work in Europe as an economic exile from the Thatcher time. I was an economic migrant and glad of the opportunity to find work.
My pro-European beliefs stem from that time. If UKIP closes the door, we will have no opportunity to do as I did.
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