BEANS AND RIBS

Sometimes it’s something other than the main dish which gets the ideas going for a meal, and the finding of this little two-pound bag of haricots vert at Sam’s was just such an inspiration. For my part, I could have just cooked the pan of beans and sat down happily with my plate.

But my Dining Companion is very fond of meat---all flavors, and our usual fare usually includes at least a portion for him. So one night this week, I got out the bag of ribs he’d cooked on Saturday and heated them gently in a pan of Sweet Baby Ray’s Hickory sauce and some brown sugar---they were succulently tender, smoky and sweet and perfect for a cold night.

But first, I scrubbed two huge gorgeous potatoes, and got them going in the microwave.

I don’t care for a wet-skinned baked potato---having them come to the table in restaurants, all dripping when you peel off the foil---that’s a STEAMED potato, with none of the wonderful crispy salty skin. And microwaving them does not do the trick, either, but a good ten or fifteen minutes in the zapper, depending on size and number you’re cooking---will give those beauties such a head-start, steaming hot through and through and beginning to soften and cook from the inside---when even getting them HOT all through in a 350 oven takes a good thirty minutes. So I DO love a shortcut, if it comes out where I wanted to go. Just give them four or five little pokes in the top with the tip of a sharp knife before you set them into the microwave on a paper towel, and zap them for fifteen minutes or so.
Have a tiny bowl with a tablespoon or so of any kind of oil ready when they come out of the microwave (handle carefully with a potholder---they are VERRRRY hot) and brush them all over with the oil. Then salt one side with slightly-coarse sea salt, turn them over and salt the other side, put them in a small pan or on a cookie sheet, and pop them in a 350 oven for perhaps twenty minutes---the time it takes to get everything dished up and on the table, and pour the tea.

They come out GORGEOUSLY crispy and golden and salt-crusted---ready to burst open and drop in a knob of butter and whatever strikes your fancy. We had ours with a little sour cream and some of these tucked in:

The potatoes were extremely large, and Chris and I shared one, taking the other up to Caro---she’s parcelled hers out from the fridge a bit at a time over the week.

And the BEANS. They were already topped (as in top-and-tail, as we say in the South about snap beans), and were slender and delicately crisp. I think the tiny tails just add to the charm.

We were in the mood for some Asian-flavor beans (as in stir-fried, but these were so small that I just put them into the sauce to steam and toss for a few minutes.

Put ¼ cup of soy sauce into a bowl, stir in 2 t. sugar, a coupla cloves of minced, smushed garlic, and a T. of sesame oil.

Pour this into a heated pan which will hold all the beans, let it come to a sizzly-boil around the edges, and throw in all the beans, tossing with tongs to get them all coated in the sauce.

Cover and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, for this size, and longer, according to the size of your beans. Toss them in the sauce a couple of times while cooking. I usually start this dish by sautéing a big chopped onion to a transparent, brown-edged state, but since we were having those as a topping for the potatoes . . .

Turn off beans, and DO NOT PUT COVER BACK ON. Serve immediately on a platter, so they won’t continue to steam. And if some DO get past crisp into that limp, salty delicious state---those are worth picking out and keeping all for yourself.

The house was so full of good scents and flavors, with the crisp/salt of the beans and potato skin, the creamy interior of the soft, perfect potato, and the sweet tenderness of the ribs. Easy and quick and a perfect Fall supper on a cool night.

And just this morning, sweeping beside the stove, I came upon a small dark comma lying on the tile, a little dried escapee from my energetic tossing of the beans. Nice memory, and another trip to Sam's soon.