Broad Beans in Olive Oil: a Meze

Zeytinyağlı bakla in Turkish.

This dish reminds me why I am a Seasonal Cook as these beans  - fava in the US - are available for such a very short time.

Since Uzbekistan I have a tremendous urge for fresh, clean tastes and definitely no pilav. Where better to be than in our village house overlooking the sparkling blue Aegean with Ayvacık market beckoning? We are here for Easter. To my great surprise I can’t say that spring has arrived here; the garden is holding back and it is chilly by day and downright cold at night. We have the fire burning and indoors is warm and toasty.

apart from irises and wisteria,the garden is still bare

Yesterday we ventured forth to market and it was a joyous sight with piles of fresh green produce everywhere and a bustling happy crowd. 



 the little side approach to ayvacık market at noon



 This zeytinyağlı dish is hardly original but it is what Turkish home cooks everywhere are putting on their tables right now.

Broad beans should be podded unless they are very young and tender as they are right now.  Keep away from limp, discoloured pods; smaller is better.  In this recipe they are cooked whole; later you can pod them  and pod them again.  They keep well in the fridge for 2-3 days. 1kg yields approximately 350g shelled beans.

LOCAL bakla, fresh, firm and green: this is what I bought

knobbly and arthritic- looking: what not to buy

I checked out quite a few recipes and saw that they are all pretty similar. The one I used is from Binnur’s Turkish Cookbook. I didn’t find the recipe all that precise but I realised that it doesn’t really matter as nothing too drastic can happen.

Ingredients for Zeytinyağlı Bakla

400g broad beans in the pod/ bakla

2 cups water with 2 tbsp lemon juice

1 small onion, chopped

75 ml olive oil (half for cooking, half for later)

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp flour

¼ cup fresh dill/dereotu (half for cooking, half for later)

Salt

they don't do things by halves around here: dill

Method

·         Wash the beans. Trim both ends and shave along the sides with a knife. Cut into 2-3 pieces.

the prepared bakla in lemon water

·         Place in the 2 cups water with the lemon juice so that the colour of the beans won’t darken later.

·         Sauté the onions with ½ the olive oil in a medium-sized pot. Add the beans with 1 cup of lemon water and the remaining ingredients.  If needed, add the second cup of lemon water.*

·         Cook for about 20-25 minutes on medium-low heat, half-covered with the lid.  Check for doneness and season with salt.

2 stages of cooking

·         Place on a serving dish and drizzle over the remaining olive oil. Garnish with the remaining fresh dill.

·         Serve at room temperature with garlic yogurt.

zeytinyağlı bakla

Tips

1.       *I  found that I definitely needed the extra lemon water. Also I cooked the beans for an extra 10 mins.

2.       The amount of fresh dill can be adjusted to taste. It is so decorative that more is good!

As the beans were cooking, TT sniffed approvingly and said ‘It smells like the real thing!’ With encouragement like that, I  certainly recommend giving this meze a try! Afiyet olsun!

HAPPY EASTER, EVERYONE!

my ancient assos mortars and pestles