According to the back of the tin of baked beans I've just eaten for breakfast, the British eat more baked beans than any other nation at an average of 15lb per head per year. And most of them, judging by supermarket shelf space, are either Heinz or own-brand. Both of which are, to my taste, too salty. Now, at 57p a can, I've discovered the most delicious alternative: open the can and you can smell the cinnamon, the cloves, the nutmeg - you don't get that with Heinz (65p).
Here's the complete list of ingredients for Whole Earth Organic Baked Beans:
organic haricot beans (49%), water, organic tomatoes (13%), organic apple juice, organic rice flour, sea salt, organic cider vinegar, organic onion powder, organic ground cinnamon, organic dill, organic garlic powder, ocean kelp, organic nutmeg, organic cloves, organic cayenne pepper, organic tamari soya sauce (water, organic soya beans, sea salt).
Doesn't that sound good? A bargain, too.
PS re-reading this, I'm amazed at that average figure: I eat the most baked beans in this household, at about four tins a year - there must be people on a tin a day.
Instant beans on toast ...
I've been podding broad beans at least twice a week for a couple of months now - and then boiling them and eating them plain. Love them. Last night, we had visitors, and plain broad beans suddenly seemed too plain. This Patience Gray recipe could be a meal in itself. Delicious and quick - if you don't count the time you spend podding the beans and then double podding the huge ones.
Fabulous. I used a red onion, paper-thin Parma ham, forgot to add any herbs. Still really delicious. Five minutes' cooking time. (Much longer podding time, but that was sociable.) This will be my summer staple. From Apulia.
Fave fresche in stufa When the beans are larger (older), husk them and pinch off their outer skins, no longer green but creamy white. Slice up a sweet white onion, put the slices in an earthenware pot (or enamelled pan) in a little olive oil, and, before they begin to brown, put in some strips neatly cut from a slice of prosciutto crudo (not paper thin), or, failing that, pancetta (salt belly of pork), both fat and lean, and brown them. Add the washed beans, salt and pepper, and some chopped mint or coriander leaves or fronds of dill. If the beans seem to be drying before they are tender, add a very little chicken stock. (A fresh green chilli pepper, seeded, is sometimes sliced and simmered in the oil with the sliced onion.)
from Patience Gray's Honey from a Weed
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