Buckeye Beans with Pan Roasted Artichokes

How to feel like a legume VIP

I recently received a very special gift. After three years, my friend Susan finally reached the top of the Rancho Gordo bean club waiting list. She shared some of her new monthly bounty with me. It’s been said there is no real gift without sacrifice; Susan has given up some magical beans, so you know she is a good friend.

I am fascinated by this three year bean club waiting list, and of course immediately wondered about who cuts in line. You know there would be no wait for Rancho Gordo beans for the exceptionally rich and famous. (One of my work colleagues was once almost run over in the Dhaka airport by a man pushing through the crowd, using a luggage cart stacked high with Louis Vuitton suitcases as a battering ram, and yelling EXTREME VIP!!). I mused for longer than I care to reveal about who among more garden variety notable people would instantly be put to the top of the list, ahead of the rest of us. Or whether the Rancho Gordo bean club is run by people with integrity who are not dazzled by the celebrity of say, Chuck Todd, or one of the girls from Bananarama. We can hope.

These are buckeye beans, a type I have never tried before. I should confess here that I am not very knowledgeable about beans, and so don’t eat them as much as I should. I am too lazy and disorganized to plan ahead enough to soak beans ahead of time, so usually eat the common varieties that are available in cans. Susan is an excellent cook as well as a bean connoisseuse, so I sought her advice about soaking them (overnight, a bit of salt in the water).

Another bean problem is that I never really know what to do with them. I feel like they need some additional element to be a complete dish, and the traditional choices don’t appeal. When I was growing up, my father sometimes wanted to eat something he called “beans and wieners” which was baked navy beans in a brown sugar sauce to which was added cut up boiled hotdogs. I am not sure the inspiration for this. I guess it was something left over from his young, unmarried days, when he didn’t know how to cook. “Beans and wieners” was fun to say, but not fun to eat.

I came across a Molly Baz recipe for lamb chops that included a funky sauce with beans and roasted artichokes, and thought that artichokes might be a good choice to make an unexpected guest appearance in a plate of beans. They would add some varied textures and flavors.

Ingredients

1 cup of dried beans (I used buckeye beans, but I think other varieties could be good) soaked overnight (I think you could also use canned)
14 oz can of artichoke hearts in brine, drained
avocado oil
2 medium shallots in a fine dice
2 garlic cloves, crushed
6 canned flat anchovy filets
1/3 cup of white wine
2 cups of warmed up vegetable stock (I did not have any on hand, so I used Better Than Bouillon vegetable base in 2 cups of hot water
fresh dill to taste
2 tbsps white wine vinegar

Instructions

Heat a tablespoon of avocado oil in a cast iron skillet. When it starts to shimmer, add the artichokes and fry on high heat until the artichokes are browned and begin to char. Once the artichokes are cooked and browned on all sides, remove from pan and reduce heat to medium-low.

Add shallots to the pan and cook until soft and starting to brown. Add a pinch of salt to the shallots as they cook. When shallots are cooked through, add garlic and anchovies. Break up anchovies, and cook them until they melt. Add wine to deglaze the pan and cook until it reduces by half.

Add beans and stock, and simmer until beans cooked through. I also saved and added some of the salted water that the beans soaked in. For canned beans this will not take very long. Add dill sprigs to taste. I don’t think it should taste overwhelmingly of dill. Return artichokes to the pan and cook until heated through.

Splash on some white wine vinegar and mix in at the end to brighten up beans before serving. If you like capers, you can add them in place of, or together with the anchovies. Check to make sure the sauce is adequately salted. Between anchovy and vegetable stock, it should be.

When you plate, sprinkle some dill on top and a few grindings of fresh pepper.

For future attempts at this dish I plan to experiment with different methods to roast the artichokes. I might roast them on a sheet pan in the oven separately next time, since I don’t think they add much to the sauce and not sure that the skillet was the best way to go.