Long Island Larder

By Means Of Beans

MIRIAM UNGERER

Beans, not bread, are the staff of life in some cultures and in nearly all countries dried beans play an important role. They're cheap, available, stuffed with protein as well as carbohydrates, and gracefully oblige the dominant characteristics of many cuisines.

There's the famous red beans and rice of New Orleans Creole cookery; black, red, or pinto beans and rice, a staple of Mexican cooking; black-eyed peas and rice (Hoppin' John), a treasured heirloom of low-country cooking, and that monument to beans in France, cassoulet. But beans adapt to summer menus admirably in an endlessly variable array of salads and salsas.

Cici and garbanzos (chickpeas to Americans) turn up in Italian, Hispanic, and Middle Eastern cookery, which is especially rich in great bean dishes. Bean concoctions in American cookery range from the sublime to the ridiculous, such as that weird sweet-sour three-bean salad born in Pennsylvania Dutch country.

Canned pork 'n beans sustained life for Americans suffering through the Great Depression (and some people still lay it out for cookouts).

Like rice for Asians, beans with a little bit of meat, vegetables, fish, or game kept early colonists alive. Up until the Age of the Can Opener and Freezer, dried beans of all kinds were a staple of the American pantry.

Then, when time-saving became the obsession of American housewives, the magnificent array of our native beans began to disappear. Even with pressure cookers, which can tenderize the toughest of dried legumes in minutes, beans began to lose favor.

Gloriously patterned appaloosas, maroon-splashed October beans, jade-tinged flageolets, dark-green French lentils (which hold their small, round form admirably), brown ones, black ones, and scores of white beans in lots of shapes, sizes, and textures.

Beans do not "all taste the same." But one of their beauty parts is that they absorb so much flavor from whatever other ingredients they're mingled with.

Spiced Garbanzo Salad

Garbanzos (a.k.a. chickpeas) ab sorb spices and herbs and maceration in a vinaigrette dressing better than many other dried legumes because of their firm texture, which holds the beans' pretty, round, nasturtium-seed shape. A great side dish with grilled food, or, for vegetarians, a main event all on its own.

Serves 8-10.

2 lbs. cooked or canned garbanzos
1/2 cup or more vinaigrette dressing
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. prepared mustard
1 tsp. coarse salt
Several grindings of white or red peppercorns
Juice of half a lemon
6 garlic cloves, mashed to a paste
3 Tbsp. minced ginger root
3 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground cardomom
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
4 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced or julienned

Garnish:

3 jalapenos, seeded and thinly sliced
2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2/3 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

Mojo On Everything

Dried garbanzos are easily cooked, but without a pressure cooker take about an hour and a half to simmer tender after an overnight soak. Never add salt to dried legumes until they are almost done. Canned garbanzos (Spanish brands especially) are quite satisfactory, but must be drained, washed in cold water, and any skins floating on the surface discarded. Drain well and pat with paper towels.

Make the vinaigrette. In a food processor, reduce the garlic to a coarse paste with the ginger root (peeled and chopped), add the remaining spices and blend, then pour in the vinaigrette and pulse to blend.

This dressing winds up as a rather embellished mojo, the Cuban sauce that goes onto just about everything, somewhat the way Americans slather catsup on their food, but mojo is a far superior flavoring.

Pour this over the garbanzos and set aside at least an hour. Arrange the salad in a wide, shallow bowl or deep platter and scatter with the tomatoes and onion. Serve the garnishes in small cups surrounding the salad; this is to keep your guests happy, who may or may not fancy hot chilies, cilantro, or pumpkin seeds. I add all three for myself.

Black-Eyed Pea And Tuna Salad

Black-eyed pea salad has been a summer favorite in my house for at least a decade - anyway, going back to a time when guests asked "What is this?" just when this quintessentially Southern vegetable was making its way into New York restaurants.

This version is a main course rounded out with peppery grilled or pan-roasted fresh tuna.

Serves four.

11/2 cups dried black-eyed peas
2 stalks celery, sliced about 1/8 inch thick
1/4 cup diced green or yellow bell pepper
4 Tbsp. finely chopped or julienned red onion
1/3 cup parsley, chopped medium-fine
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
Coarse salt to taste, about 1 tsp.

Tuna:

1 lb. best grade very fresh tuna, black areas removed, cut into four 1-inch steaks

Spice mix:

1 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
1 tsp. coriander seed, ground
1 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. olive oil

Anoint The Tuna

Wash, pick over, and soak the black-eyed peas overnight, or give it the quick-soak treatment (bring to boil, simmer one minute, cover, and wait one hour before cooking). Canned black-eyed peas are always over-cooked, therefore unsuitable for salad. Every bean should hold its shape.

Put the peas (which are really beans) into a pot with cool water. Do not salt. Bring to a simmer and skim off any husks that float to the top. Peas from the current year's crop will cook in about 20 minutes and you must test after 15 minutes. Older peas may take up to 45 minutes, but their skins are delicate and easily turn to mush.

When barely done, add salt to taste and let stand five minutes. Drain. When tepid, mix with all the remaining salad ingredients and leave at room temperature. If made a day ahead, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate, but allow to return to tepid.

Rub the tuna steaks with the spice mixture and let stand for 15 minutes (or refrigerate overnight). Anoint them with oil and either grill them quickly over a hot fire or sear them in an iron skillet heated red hot for about one minute on each side for rare tuna with a crisp crust.

Arrange individual salads on a bed of arugula or Belgian endive, or both, and slice the tuna into quarter-inch slabs and fan out over the tops or serve alongside.

Black Bean Dip Mexicano

This ever-popular and sturdy dip may not be the newest kid on the block, but it's a great item to have in the fridge (if it lasts that long).

Makes about two cups.

2 cups cooked black bean
1/2 cup chicken broth or bean broth
1 Tbsp. peanut oil
1/3 cup sliced scallions
2 tsp. cumin, ground
2 tsp. coriander, ground
1/4 cup chopped cilantro or parsley
1 tsp. smoked chipotle or other hot chile, mashed
Juice of two limes

Salt to taste

*If using canned beans, drain and rinse before using.

Warm the beans and broth, then turn them into a food processor with the remaining ingredients (down through the ground coriander) and pulse until a coarse puree is obtained. Remove and stir in the cilantro and add the chipotle, mixing well a bit at a time until you reach the perfect degree of heat. Then add as much lime juice and salt as you like.