Poaching in fat

Now, first, Annalena has got to say something. Rather than putting down an entry having to do with cooking, she wanted to write a celebration of one of her dearest friends in the world, who just celebrated a birthday. But public praise and admiration is embarrassing to everyone, and as such, the words will remain private. Just let it be known: Annalena LOVES her friends more than just about anything in the world, and LOVES this friend more than just about all others. You know who you are. And know how hard it was for Annalena to not express things here.

So, instead, we turn to the subject at hand. We are talking about a technique here, more than a specific recipe. And it is a technique that you should have available to you. Know right up front: if you like your vegetables, crisp, bright green, and quick cooked, this is not for you. I like them that way, but I like them this way too. Interestingly enough, during the summer, when everyone is talking about quick cooked, light food, I like them even more. I think that may be because the rest of our summer meals are frequently lighter and simpler, so a more complex vegetable dish is especially pleasing.

In oil poaching , you combine "the best of both worlds. " You need water to cook vegetables. Heating them in water, or broth, or whatever, breaks down their structure a bit, so that what might have been inedible, or difficult to eat, becomes easier. Think of an artichoke, for example. You CAN eat them raw, but unless you shred them very fine, it is nighmarishly difficult. Beets, too. And I bet you can think of others. There are also at least a few of you out there who simply cannot handle raw vegetables, because they offer too great a challenge to your digestive system. Hence, you know about the need to cook them, by boiling, steaming, and so forth.

Salting water will get seasoning into the vegetables. BUT... what about the lovely flavor you can get from fats like butter or olive oil? No question about it, you can dress a vegetable with melted butter, or olive oil, and it's delicious. A deeper flavor can be secured, however, with a little ingenuity.

Fats cannot penetrate raw vegetables. The tissue of the vegetable needs to be broken down a bit, and then the oils can get in. And, if the oils happen to have an inherent flavor, that gets in too. So, in this style of poaching, what you do is you let the water cook the vegetable, so that the structure is broken down, and looser. When that happens, the fat can get INTO the vegetable, and you get something rather tasty.

This doesn't happen quickly however, and in the process, green vegetables will lose their bright, vibrant color. I am not particularly happy about that, but the truth is, I like the color of the longer cooked vegetable.

The trick here is to choose a vegetable that has enough "oomph" to hold up to a longer cooking time. I would not do this with peas, for example, as they will break down horrifically. Regular green beans turn to mush. But carrots are good. And artichokes. And my favorite, roma beans. These are the big, flat, fat green beans that you buy which just never come out to be tender enough when you steam them or boil them. Here's how I do them. It's imprecise. BUt it works. Then I'll tell you how to do carrots.

The roma beans seem to call out for olive oil. You put your trimmed beans into a pot, and then what you do is measure how much water it will take to just cover them. Do that by measuring the water and covering them. After you have the amount, pour the water off. Use 2/3 of it. Then add olive oil to make up the additional third. Add a clove of garlic or two, and some salt. Then, start bringing the mix to the boil, at low heat, and uncovered. What will happen is the water will eventually go off, leaving the oil behind. The oil, in turn, will penetrate the beans, taking the garlic flavor with it. This will probably take upwards of 15-2o minutes, which is way longer than we're taught to cook vegetables. Well, lemme let you in on a secret: Italians have been cooking vegetables this way, for hundreds of years.
The resulting beans are very tender. I've heard them called "spoon beans" because of the tenderness. They are GOOD. Put them beside a nice piece of meat, like a pork chop, and you're in good shape.
When I do this with carrots, I use unsalted butter instead. My spice of choice is ginger. If I didn't use ginger, I would use dill, but I would sprinkle it on at the end. (think about your choice of spice. We've discussed tender and sturdy herbs. Use sturdy ones for this.). For artichokes, I use olive oil, and rosemary and garlic.

This technique is somewhat akin to poaching lobster in butter, but that dish is way fattier, richer, and not to Annalena's liking. Honestly, if I have leftover beans cooked this way, I will slice open a long loaf of bread, stuff it with the beans, and eat them up and be blissfully happy.

The way I am with my dear friend. Caro, being with you is bliss. I hope you know that.