Long Island Larder: Versatile Beans

"After you bin havin' steak every night, beans, beans taste fine" goes a song on a very old L.P. I have, given me by Shel Silverstein. He was a folk singer then; now, of course, he is known to the world as the author of "Light in the Attic," the longest-running children's book on the Top 10 list in history.

And though Shel's slightly salacious lyrics did not really refer to beans, it's my fond hope that a few unsophisticated children took them literally. Mine did. Or maybe bean love was simply engendered by the family's Southern roots, or genetics, or the fact that I cook them so often.

I adore just about every kind of dried bean on the planet (though I never could abide those store-bought, sugary, "New England Baked Beans" that come in a brown jar).

While beans used to be relegated to the tables of the poor, with the change in dietary habits and the greater knowledge of nutrition, beans can now take their deliciously rightful place on the toniest tables.

Black beans, once the province of Mexican and South American restaurants, seem to pop up everywhere now - in salsas and salads as well as more traditional dishes, in the kitchens of celebrated chefs.

And bean purees are displacing potatoes and rice and other carbs in urbane settings heretofore inhospitable to the homely charms of dried legumes.

They really do not take forever to cook, even if you've forgotten to soak them overnight, especially if they're from the current year's harvest. The quick-soak method works just fine.

And even old beans succumb quickly to the pressure-cooker, an invaluable tool for getting tasty, home-cooked dinners on the table quickly.

Cassoulet, one of the most magnificent creations of the French culinary art, is creeping back onto menus even though it may be the most complicated bean dish ever invented. It is becoming slightly less difficult to locate the pale green flageolets the French turn into a scrumptious accompaniment, often served with lamb.

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Just the other night I served them with roast leg of venison. The flageolets somewhat upstaged the entree, with many requests for seconds.

These small, pale-green, dried beans are shaped like miniature marrow (Great Northern) beans.

However, they cost about three times as much (still cheap for so much protein, iron, potassium, calcium, vitamins, and soluble fiber in deliciously edible form), possibly because they're French and found almost exclusively in specialty food stores like Dean and DeLuca or the Gourmet Garage in Manhattan and the Red Horse in East Hampton.

Flageolets With Garlic And Thyme

Serves 8.

1 lb. dried flageolets, soaked at least 4 hours

Tepid water

1 medium onion stuck with 2 cloves

1 Tbsp. butter

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 medium onion, minced

2/3 cup half-and-half

Salt to taste

Freshly ground white pepper to taste

2 Tbsp. fresh thyme and parsley leaves, mixed

Bouquet garni (tie these in a cheesecloth packet):

1 large bay leaf

1 med. carrot, halved

1 large stalk celery with top, halved

4 sprigs fresh thyme

4 sprigs parsley

4 whole white peppercorns

Cover And Re-Cover

Wash and discard any shriveled or discolored beans, cover with cool water, and soak. Drain the beans and re-cover, by a couple of inches, with tepid water.

Make the bouquet garni and tuck it down into the middle of the beans. Bring them to the simmer, cover loosely, and cook at low heat for about 45 minutes, or until tender but not mushy. Older beans take longer to cook.

When they are tender to the tooth, remove the bouquet garni. Toss a few ice cubes in the pot and place in a cool place if you don't wish to use them immediately. Otherwise, drain, saving the liquid (the leftovers, if any, make wonderful soup).

Soup From Leftovers

Melt the butter over low heat and saute the garlic and onion gently until transparent. Add the half-and-half, heat, and stir this into the beans, along with salt and pepper to taste, taking care not to break the beans.

The entire dish can be made ahead to this point, covered, and refrigerated until an hour before serving time. Heat to the boiling point and scatter with the remaining herbs.

Note: To make soup of any leftovers, puree them in a processor and add enough of the reserved bean liquid to achieve a heavy-cream consistency. Stir in a little cream or milk, heat to just under the boil, and serve.

Black Bean Cakes With Sour Cream

These bean cakes, perhaps patterned on the Cuban bollos, are turning up more and more often on damask-clothed tables. They are interesting enough to serve as a first course, a cocktail appetizer if made very small, or as one usually sees them, on the plate with beef or chicken.

Freshly cooked beans are best, but you could make do with canned ones, well drained and rinsed of the goo they come in.

Makes 6 large cakes or 12 small.

21/2 cups cooked black beans, drained

3 Tbsp. finely chopped scallions

1 small fresh jalapeno, roasted

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground cardomom

1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs

1 egg, beaten

2 tsp. red wine vinegar

salt and freshly milled pepper to taste

vegetable oil for frying

1/4 cup fine yellow cornmeal

1 cup sour cream

1 or 2 Tbsp. freshly minced cilantro

Use Rubber Gloves

Process the beans until coarsely pureed. Chop in the scallions, pulsing once or twice, then turn the mixture into a bowl. Roast the jalapeno, turning it on the end of a long fork over a gas flame, until it blisters enough to scrape off the skin. Use rubber gloves to handle it.

Scrape out the seeds, then chop finely. Add it to the pureed beans and stir in all remaining ingredients as far down in the recipe as the vegetable oil.

Shape the bean mixture into six (or 12) evenly-sized cakes. Heat about a quarter-inch of the oil in a large, heavy skillet, to hot but not smoking. Spread cornmeal out on a large piece of waxed paper and turn each cake to coat both sides lightly.

Slide each cake in gently - a slotted flexible spatula is helpful for this - and do not crowd them. Fry about two minutes on each side and drain on paper towel. Serve hot on hot plates and distribute a spoonful of sour cream on each, topped with a generous dusting of cilantro.

Calypso Beans With Sausage

Calypso, Jacob's Cattle, or several other of the lovely mottled-white-bean varieties may be used for this one-dish meal, which is great for a buffet. It can be prepared a day ahead - it's the better for it, in fact - and reheated in its casserole dish. Grilled kielbasa is tucked into the beans just before the final bake.

Serves six to eight.

1 lb. dried calypso, Jacob's Cattle, or similar beans,

soaked and drained

Tepid water to cover

1 large stalk celery with tops, broken in half

1 medium carrot, cut in half

Bouquet garni:

4 sprigs parsley

3 sprigs thyme

1/2 tsp. fennel seeds

2 cloves garlic, smashed

4 or 5 white peppercorns, smashed

2 small or 1 large chicken bouillon cube

Salt to taste

3 ripe plum tomatoes, quartered

1 lb. kielbasa, lightly grilled and cut in 2-inch lengths

1 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley

Give The Bag A Smash

Wash, rinse, and soak the beans in the usual way. Drain, and cover with tepid water by two inches. Add the celery and carrot along with the bouquet garni ingredients tied in a cheesecloth bag. Give the bag a smash with the side of a cleaver before adding to the beans.

Bring to a boil and simmer with lid askew for about 30 minutes. Skim if necessary. When the beans are tender, gently stir in the bouillon cubes. When dissolved, let the beans rest off-heat for half an hour, then taste. Add salt if necessary, keeping in mind that kielbasa is also salty.

Discard the carrot, celery, and bouquet. Drain the beans, reserving some of the pot liquor. Put them into an oven-to-table crock or deep gratin dish; tuck the pieces of sausage halfway in, along with the pieces of tomato. Add a large ladle of the bean liquor.

The dish can be completely made ahead up to this point.

Bake in a preheated 350 F. oven on the center shelf for about 30 minutes, sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley, and serve.