My New Toy

I love kitchen gadgets and really can always find a few more that I would like to have, but our kitchen is getting full so I have to make sure it is something that I really want and will use in order to buy it now. While up in Pawley’s this summer I went to one of my favorite cooking stores and found a utensil that Jamie Oliver had used on a recent episode of Jamie at Home, a bean cutter. I had never seen one before, but I knew if I ran across one I would just have to get it. So, I picked it up and was anxious to try out the recipe Jamie had made on the episode. It is Grilled Butterflied Monkfish with a Sweet Runner Bean Stew.

To start out making the stew you put all the beans through the bean cutter and they end up in gorgeous, thin slices. Next you add olive oil, anchovies, garlic and the chile to a pot and let them cook until the anchovies have broken down. Next add the tomatoes, beans, and rosemary to the pot. Season it with salt and pepper and bring it to a boil. Once boiling turn it down to a simmer and cover the pot. To prepare the fish (we used grouper instead of monkfish) we salt and peppered it and grilled it. I skipped the gremolata that looks and sounds delicious, but we ran out of time. Serve the fish over the beans.

We both absolutely loved the runner bean stew. Beans and tomatoes are one of my very favorite flavor combinations and mixed with the savory rosemary it is just fantastic. I also really liked the texture of the thin slices of beans. I would highly recommend a bean cutter as it was a neat tool to use and cut the beans slices that were a perfect thickness. The beans complemented the grilled fish very well and made for a beautiful presentation. All in all this was a delicious meal and that I anticipate us making again in the future. Russ rates it a 10.