About Me
I'm a Melbourne boy, hailing from St Kilda with one ex, one current wife and four kids. Love the outdoors and making new discoveries. I cook a lot at home (cheers from wife) and do some preserving, mostly jams, pickles and fruit liqueurs. This is the diary of a cooking journey.

My Complete Profile

Recent Posts
Stephen Downes Big Call
Egg Parmigiana
Broad Beans with Radish & Watercress
Whey Soup
It never rains, but pours
Beef Stroganoff
Spring Lamb with Morels & Asparagus
Endangered, MasterChef?
Feast or Famine?
Chipman Beetroot Chips

Links
1001 Dinners 1001 Nights
A Few of My Favourite Things
Abstract Gourmet
Apellation Australia
Becks and Posh
BurgerMary ATX
Cook (almost) Anything at least once
Cooking Down Under
Cook sister!
Cooked And Bottled In Brunswick
David Lebovitz
Deep Dish Dreams
Chef Paz
Chubby Hubby
Eating Melbourne
Eating With Jack
essjay eats
Food Lover's Journey
Gosstronomy
Grab Your Fork
I Am Obsessed With Food
I Eat Therefore I Am
Iron Chef Shellie
Just Desserts
Kalyn's Kitchen
Kitchen Wench
Lobstersquad
Matt Bites
Melbourne Gastronome
My Kitchen in Half Cups
Nola Cuisine
Not Quite Nigella
Nourish Me
Seriously Good
Souvlaki For The Soul
Stone Soup
Sunnybrae
Syrup and Tang
Steve Don't Eat It!
That Jess Ho
The Elegant Sufficiency
The Perfect Pantry
The View From My Porch
Thyme for Cooking
Tomato
Tumeric & Saffron
tummy rumbles
What I Cooked Last Night
where's the beef
WhiteTrashBBQ
Vicious Ange

Food Blog Resources
Food Blog S'cool
I Eat I Drink I Work
Kiplog Food Links

Food for Thought
Autism Victoria
Autism Vox
forget me now
Lotus Martinis
MOM - Not Otherwise Specified
St Kilda Today

Saturday, November 27, 2010
Bessara

Sometimes being able to cook brings its own set of problems. Like when someone, your partner for instance, brings home an ingredient and asks you to make something of it.

Like a pack of dried broad beans and being asked to deal with it.

Fortunately, I'd just watched the Moroccan episode of Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escapes, where he enjoyed a bowl of soup called bessara, pretty much made from dried broad beans and not a lot else.

According to Rick, Bessara is a speciality of Chefchaouen, a city in Northwest Morocco and any place with chef in the name has got to have good food, right?

The soup looked thick, unctuous and inviting in complete contrast to the dried broad beans I'd been given, which still had the skin on, which, even after a bit of a soak were the devil to remove. Ahem, peeled next time.


Even though the main body of the soup consists of just broad beans and garlic, it's the condiments that really bring it to life, in particular, the squeeze of lemon juice right at the end. Where my adaption differs from Rick's is that I've cooked the chile and cumin into the soup, whereas he prefers to sprinkle it on at the end.

Bessara
(serves 6)

500g dried shelled & split broad beans, soaked overnight
6 to 10 cloves garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon dried chile flakes - optional
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt & fresh ground pepper

To serve: Olive oil, paprika, lemon wedges, finely shredded coriander

Drain and rinse the broad beans and add them to a pot with 2 litres water and bring to the boil, skimming any scum that rises. Add the garlic cloves, dried chile flakes and cumin and allow to simmer away for an hour or so until the beans are starting to disintegrate. Blend the soup in batches until smooth and pass through a sieve back into the pot. Add water if the soup is too thick, but it does need to be nicely creamy. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground pepper, reheat gently.

Ladle the soup into bowls, drizzle on some olive oil, sprinkle on some paprika and shredded coriander, Serve with lemon wedges.
 
  posted at 4:53 pm
  5 comments



5 Comments:
At 10:55 pm, Anonymous Buy Online Food said...

Can you order broad beans online like from an organic food online shop? Or perhaps there is another name for them that I may not be aware of. I would love to try this soup recipe because it looks unique.

 
At 12:06 pm, Anonymous sarah @ For the Love of Food said...

What a happy coincidence of food watching and food gathering :) It's nice when you get to try something you've just watched and show how amazing you are to your partner at the same time!

 
At 5:48 pm, Anonymous Sean Grey Hanson said...

Just to share. I am fan of watching cooking shows and I've seen something similar from this recipe but I find it difficult to follow. Good thing to know, I found this recipe - though it's kinda different.

 
At 4:38 pm, Anonymous Appetise Food Photography said...

Nice and simple step by step...that's why I prefer written out recipes the TV ones

 
At 12:38 pm, Blogger xumeiqing said...

151216meiqing
ray ban outlet
louis vuitton backpack
canada goose
michael kors outlet
ugg boots
ray ban sunglasses
nike running shoes
ralph lauren polo
coach outlet
north face jacket
uggs for sale
vans shoes
ugg outlet
ugg boots
celine
louis vuitton bags
coach outlet
louis vuitton
gucci outlet
ugg boots
montblanc
coach outlet online
polo ralph lauren
canada goose jackets
uggs outlet
ray-ban sunglasses
ugg boots
mont blanc pens
michael kors bag
true religion jeans
air max 90
louis vuitton handbags
christian louboutin outlet
louis vuitton handbags
tiffany and co
michael kors outlet
louis vuitton
michael kors outlet stores
jordan retro
michaek kors handbags

 

Post a Comment

<< Home



Search


Recipe Categories
Soups
Salads
Vegetables
Poultry
Pork
Beef
Cakes & Desserts
Miscellaneous

Archives
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
May 2009
June 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
January 2010
February 2010
March 2010
April 2010
May 2010
June 2010
July 2010
August 2010
September 2010
October 2010
November 2010
December 2010
February 2011
March 2011
April 2011
May 2011
June 2011
July 2011
August 2011
September 2011
July 2012

Miscellaneous
AUSTRALIAN FOOD BLOGGERS
Prev ~ List ~ Random ~ Join ~ Next
Site Ring from Bravenet


Site Feed

counter easy hit

Credits
Blog Design by:


Image created by:
Ximena Maier

Powered by:


Photos, Original Recipes, and Text - (C) Copyright: 2005-2010
At My Table by Neil Murray, all rights reserved.
You may re-post a recipe, please give credit and post a link to this site.

Contact Me
Neil Murray

Follow messytable on Twitter