An Affair to Remember (Baked Beans)

Before Café Giulia had a website, before I even knew it had a name and still called it that-cafe-on-Abercrombie-St-about-halfway-down-on-the-right-when-you-drive-from-Cleveland-to-Broadway, I was in love with their baked beans.

“Baked beans?”, you say. 

 “Yes, baked beans”, I say.

“But what would you want with soggy beans covered in syrup?”, you ask.

“Nothing,” I say. “But that is not what I am talking about.” 

The baked beans at Café Giulia were more soupy than sweet and filling enough to make brunch really satisfying. These baked beans are in the same vein. Perfect with toast for a hearty brunch with a side of scrambled eggs or comfort food on a cold day.

Ingredients (about 6 servings)

3 cans cannellini or butter beans

1 ham hock

2 onions

A splash of olive oil

2 cloves garlic

A handful of chopped celery

1 grated carrot

2 tsp brown sugar

2 bay leaves

2 cans chopped tomatoes

200ml water

 Chop the onions.

 

Heat a large pot on medium-high heat. Add a splash of oil and fry until translucent.

 

 Finely chop the garlic and add to the onions. Add the celery and grated carrots.  

 

Then add the tomatoes, bay leaves, water, sugar and ham hock. Cover with a lid. When the sauce starts to simmer gently, turn the heat right down to low. Leave to simmer for 4-5 hours.

 After 5 hours of simmering, drain the beans well and add to the pot.

Simmer for another hour. Tilt the lid of the pot slightly so the steam can escape to thicken the sauce.

Remove the ham hock and take the meat off the bone. Serve the meat on the side with the baked beans and toast for supper (or brunch).

[Note: I actually prefer the beans sans ham in the morning (much to the delight of The Photographer who enjoys the ham sans beans).]

After sunrise (French Toast)

I insist that breakfasts on weekends and public holidays are different from the muesli and yoghurt I spoon into my half-awake self before sunrise on weekdays.

 

This lovely, public holiday morning, as I went down into the kitchen, I saw the perfect solution to my breakfast dilemma. We had bought some lovely sourdough bread last week from De Oude Bakkerij which we didn’t manage to finish (despite a concerted effort on our part) before it started getting stale.

So I soaked it in a little egg and milk et voilá: French Toast. This version is a sweet one, with a higher milk to egg ratio and a bit of sugar and cinnamon.

It’s great on its own or you can serve with fried bacon, maple syrup and caramelised banana (none of which I had in the house this morning).

Disclaimer: the amount of egg/milk mixture depends a lot on the absorbency of the bread. If you haven’t used the bread, make the mixture in batches (1 egg/100ml milk/1Tbsp sugar/1/2 tsp cinnamon).

Ingredients (Serves 2-3)

200ml Milk

2 eggs

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 pinch of salt

3-4 large slices of stale sourdough bread (or up to 1 stale baguette)

Butter for frying (do not substitute for oil – the butter makes the flavour)

 

 Take some milk and eggs in the quantities above. Mix together. Add sugar and salt.

And cinnamon.

 Cut up some bread into thick (1cm) slices (I wasn't joking when I said large).

Pour the egg mixture into a shallow bowl. Dip in the bread slices. Leave to soak for 1 minute.

 Turn the bread around and let soak on the other side for 1 minute.

Remove from the bowl and place on a plate. In the meantime, heat your frying pan to medium high.

 Add butter to the frying pan. When the pan is hot (a little bit of water flicked onto the pan sizzles), add the bread.

Fry until golden brown (I like to flatten the bread a little with a spatula so I can make sure all of it is in contact with the pan - be gentle.)

 

Turn the slices around and fry till the other sides are golden.

Serve as is or with jam, maple syrup, golden syrup, caramelised banana, bacon...or, The Photographer's  favourite, Nutella....