I was watching Jamie Oliver a few days ago and he made a bean dish, using Borlotti beans, which he said were popular in Italy. I googled and found that another name for Borlotti beans was Cranberry beans. I looked on Amazon to see if they sold these, and finally found a “small quantity” offered.

I added this to my shopping cart. I had also been looking for dried veggies that could be used to make soup.

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I visited several of the grocery stores, that I normally go to as I shop for groceries, looking for dried vegetables. I was in Smithfield a couple of days ago and after buying RamRod Cigars at JRs, and then a case (12 bottles) of Muscadine grape juice (not wine) at Hinnant Vineyards I was looking for a place to have lunch. The clerk at Hinnant’s mentioned the Old North State Food Hall (which is right next to JRs) which I had seen has “10 restaurants under 1 roof” so I decided to go back where I had come from and went into the Food Hall.

There is a bar with a large seating area at the back of the food hall. A coffee shop was in the middle, and there were several small vendors on each side including those that offered fried chicken, curried dishes, tacos, pizza, burgers and some of it all. Some signage had small print but all prices seemed to be a little high with all meals probably coming in around $14 or higher. The burger offering started off with the cheapest burger starting at about $9, and then it was either $4 for fries and several dollars for a drink. I looked and then decided to go elsewhere.

I had been to a CiCis restaurant several years ago, and also to Golden Corral a couple of times, and even Outback (with Deborah) once. The Outback was expensive, but Deb and I were enjoying the company and so “went with the flow”. Aware, but not aware enough to say, hey let’s go elsewhere. I decided to go to CiCis because they usually offer a buffet deal for a low price.

I think it was around $12 for drink and buffet. I only had three pieces of pizza, and their pizza is all thin crust (I think.), but I fell in love with a vegetable broth they had. I had three small bowls of the broth, which had little bits of various dried veggies floating in it. I especially liked the intense flavor. Interesting that the dried veggies had not re-hydrated more.

On my second trip to the soups area, I realized that the “game plan” was to add cooked pasta (on one end) to your bowl, and the 3 choices were vegetable broth, chili, and an Alfredo type white sauce. I didn’t like the looks of the pasta, and did like the broth (as is) which may have also had a chicken flavoring.

So, I normally wouldn’t used dried veggies for my vegetable soup, but I now had a “hankering” to try this at home. I found several dried veggie combinations on Amazon, but most meant buying a restaurant size at a price from $35 to $62. But not wanting to commit to a large quantity of product, I left my Cranberry beans in my Amazon Cart and went out into the “real world” to shop for groceries.

Late in the afternoon, I stopped by Fresh Market and saw a bunch of Chard at what I thought was a reasonable price. I thought this might be good in soup, but couldn’t find any Dandelion Greens (which I have used several times. The Chard was leafy green with bright red stems. As I reached for a bunch, I seemed to remember that you might need to cut the stems out.

NOTE [10/30/22]: Here are canned Roman Beans (Cranberry/Borlotti) at Walmart. I also went back to IGA and found that they had a 2 lbs. bag of dried Cranberry beans, and I bought one of those. The 32 oz. size was cheaper “per pound” than the 16 oz. [end note]

I headed on to IGA and bought some basics, including milk, creamer, orange juice (with pulp) and a few other items. But, before I made it to the cash register, I found a packet of vegetable soup mix (for either soup or a chip dip), and then I looked over in the “Hispanic” section and found dried beans, and there was a package of dried Cranberry beans at about $2 for 16 oz. Wow, wasn’t expecting that. Bought those too.

At home, I googled and found a recipe for “Borlotti Beans with Chard“. Now, I wasn’t looking to add Chard to my Cranberry beans, but when I found the recipe, I thought “this must have been… ‘meant to be'”. *Next day, I am cooking the beans and planning to make the above dish.

Last night I opened the dried veggie package and saw that there were two packets inside. I used one packet of the dried veggies (not alot, but enough to flavor), and added some chicken broth, and I also added a small can of mixed vegetables (not dried). I don’t think the mixed veggies added to the soup, nor the pasta shells that I had added. Pearl barley, maybe? This soup was close enough and it also satisfied my desire for soup made with dried veggies.

The Cranberry beans are cooking down. It’s been about 75 minutes, and they may have another 30 minutes before the beans are soft. The small half of onion that I added whole, has broken apart, the peppercorns & Bay Leaf are floating.

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I left the following comment on the recipe site, because this turned out really well. A distinctively different flavored bean dish which I would make again.

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I saw, on TV, Jamie Oliver fixing some dish with Borlotti Beans, which I found later were also called Cranberry Beans. I was going to order a small amount of the beans through Amazon, but went out shopping first. I hadn’t seen this recipe yet, and was looking for Dandelion Greens, but since they didn’t have any, I settled for Chard (which I’m not sure I have ever cooked with). But the Chard looked wonderful (all green and red stems). I went to a different grocer, not thinking at all about Borlotti/Cranberry Beans, but happened to spy a bag of Cranberry Beans on the shelf. Glad I didn’t purchase from Amazon because they were about half the cost in the local grocer. *I have never tried Cranberry Beans before.

Once home, I found your recipe online for Borlotti & Chard. I thought it was “meant to be” because I normally would not have bought Chard, and I didn’t expect to find the beans locally. I normally use some kind of ‘seasoning’ meat with my beans, but didn’t here, and followed your recipe pretty closely. Had dried, ground Sage though. They turned out fantastic, although maybe a little ‘wetter’ than yours. I’m not sure if the distinct flavor was due to the beans or the Chard, or maybe both in combo.

I like a round bone lamb chop with some char, and I also make a tomato chutney (with vinegar & sweetener), which I think would go well with this bean dish. I haven’t made polenta cakes in a while, but I think that would also add to this meal.

Thanks!

Bill

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NOTE [10/22/22]: I was putting up the clean dishes and utensils from running my dish washer last night and happened to look at the bottom of my favorite fry pan (10″ Revere Ware – 1978). Almost impossible to see with the naked eye, but a little cleaning & a photo got a readable result. *I’ve cleaned the bottoms of these copper pots & pans before using catchup, and that does work.

Well, I guess I’ve gotten “good use” out of my Revere Ware pots & pans, especially this 10″ skillet from 1978. Forty-four years of use, with a lot of different things cooked in it during the last 20 years. I probably used this skillet to make my first “German Potato Salad” which I visually have a memory of, standing at the stove, in the kitchen at 204 Johnson Blvd. in Jacksonville, NC. The stove was on the right side of a door than opened into a small bedroom, that had another door opening into a little alcove to other bedrooms, the bathroom & the living room. To the right of the stove was the back door.

I’ve cooked my Hispanic version of chicken with tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, carrots and assorted hot peppers with the Herdez “Salsa Ranchera”. Or take the same ingredients, except for the Salsa Ranchera, and replace that flavoring with Patak’s “Hot Curry Paste” for an India Indian bent. Or, take those two meals and use ground beef instead of chicken. How about my zucchini, kielbasa, shrimp, onion, tomato & pasta shells dish? Many a time for that also. Round bone lamb chops in the last couple of years. Fried apples & bacon for breakfast in the last six months, although I do now cook the bacon in the microwave. Surely a bunch of fried okra in this pan.

As I’ve noted elsewhere, the Guy Fieri pot lids fit the Revere Ware perfectly. I also have a steamer insert for the 3Qt sized pot which I have used many times, steaming broccoli, asparagus, carrots, etc. The insert works in the Fieri & Revere Ware pots. I like the Fieri glass lid for the steamer insert.

But as I read the above note, I am reminded to be in praise of the Braun Multi-Quick “multi-tool” that has a stick blender, a whisk attachment, a 2 cup food processor. For years I limped along using the smallest of these which could not satisfactorily blend a single can of Garbanzo beans for hummus. I had bought the original for the stick blender attachment, using it when making my Curried Apple Soup (blending the ingredients in the still, very hot pot). But, very quickly saw that the food processor attachment was great for making salsa, hummus and a simple pesto for steaks. And the whisk? I’ve made whipped cream a few times, and even blended my “curry remoulade” directly in the small mayo jar, instead of taking the ingredients out and then putting them back into the jar. Scoop out a generous portion of mayo to make room for the curry paste and the capers and blend in the jar. *The curry remoulade was my version of the curry remoulade that I first had at the Waterside Restaurant in Charleston, SC. It came on a Shrimp Po-Boy sandwich… fried shrimp crammed between a good sized roll, maybe had slaw on it also and fries. It was years before I could google and find the definition of “remoulade”. I used this on my deli sandwiches.

I have an old style vegetable peeler, that can be used to peel cucumbers, then slice the cucumber in half and use the rounded end of the peeler to scoop out the seeds. *I’ve not seen any other chef in recent history praise this tool for that purpose, but someone displayed it, I saw it, and I still do it for my cucumbers.

[ Images 09/24/23 ]:

I do not keep my knives in good condition, but most of them are expensive, Wusthof Classic versions. My mother wasn’t a good cook, except for fried chicken. We only had small kitchen knives which were used for cutting a sausage on a plate, or a full sized ham. When I started to become a “foodie” I realized that I should get some larger knives. “What a difference it makes having the right tool.” That phrase is true in the kitchen, at the office, in the yard, and even in the computer world where the right tool might be an app that saves you hundreds of key strokes, or hundreds of hours. *Still, I know of one very good cook that still uses small knives for all she does, but I still note that when I see her tackling a “large” anything with those small knives, I know better than her.

Chopping all sorts of things with a knife that is the right size makes the process so much quicker, safer and more efficient. Carrots, zucchini, celery, tomatoes, potatoes, etc. A 7″ Chef’s knife, but I like the Santoku style for the wide flat blade for scooping up what you’ve just chopped. And I bought a serrated tomato knife that has a forked tip. As I recall, I absent mindedly almost chopped my finger off when I first started using it. *I did become afraid of this knife after I had sliced my finger severely, but I “hunkered down” and came to concentrate more when using this knife, respecting the tool, and now use it quite often for many things. In fact, I use the tomato knife even when picking up the larger Santoku would be more proper for the job. Say, slicing the ends off of an onion & chopping it. More control with the Santoku, but an adequate job with the tomato knife.