Beans on toast

There are many things that can be said about Jamie Oliver and you either love him or you hate him (apparently) but you cannot say he has a lack of enthusiasm for cooking and product in general! Yesterday we were watching an episode of Jamie at home which we have on DVD (in case you were wondering; I am a fan.. ) and this particular episode was about beans, peas and anything related to that family. With the fresh pods from his garden (what a garden!!!) he made this lovely recipe, which is really quick and really simple and I found it very refreshing with the weather right now. So definitely a fabulous lunchrecipe. Healthy too!

It’s incredibly hot and humid right now and huge thunderstorms are being predicted for later this afternoon, which – quite frankly – is probably good since it’s too hot to do anything really. Yesterday I decided to go for a bike ride to my parents house which is in a little town called Eemnes. But to get there you have to cross a bridge and it’s 25 kilometers to get there (so  yes, that is 50 km in total) and that may not be a huge distance for a lot of people, but for me it’s a big distance! Plus on top of that it was 30 degrees C yesterday as well. Luckily I got fed fresh strawberries at my folks so I was nourished before going back.

Why is that you always have the wind against you on the way back?? Anyway, I made it. Slightly sore bum today though…

I was up early this morning as I had to get to Amsterdam to pick up my brand new Canon Eos 5D Mark II!! Whoohoo!! Photos above are taken with this new toy (well not really a toy with these prices..) The one thing I am a little unhappy about is the fact that they thought it was a good idea to change the battery type from the original 5D to the 5D mark II! That means I have to get a whole stack of expensive new batteries. I hate it when they do that for no good reason really as the other ones where perfect.

I will play around with it and let you know how I like it! Curious about the filming too!!

Here is the recipe for the lovely lunch I had!

PEAS AND BROADBEANS ON TOAST WITH MINT AND MOZARELLA (serves four) From at home with Jamie

500 gr fresh peas in the pod (about 150 gr out of their shells)

700 gr broadbeans (about 250 gr. once pods are removed)

fresh mint, use only the leaves

seasalt and black pepper

extra virgin oliveoil

50 gr grated pecorino, plus some extra for serving

juice of 1 lemon

4 slices of sourdough bread

1 clove of garlic, unpealed, cut in two

2 large balls of mozarella

a handful of peasprouts (I couldn’t get those so used wild rocket instead, which works well too)

Remove the peas and broadbeans from their pods and put them in separate tubs. Keep the smallest ones apart to mix through the salad.

For pureeing the beans and peas, Jamie is telling you to use a pestle and mortar but I chose the lazy option and used a small kitchenmachine. Mix half of the mindleaves with the peas and ad some salt. Puree and then ad the broadbeans. Make it all into a thick green paste.

Gizmo hiding from the sunshine

Ad a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to make the puree lovely moist. Add the grated pecorino. If the puree becomes too stiff you can thin it with a little extra olive oil.

Add about 3/4 of the lemonjuice – that will bring all the flavours together. Have a taste and if needed ad salt and pepper to taste.

Grill or toast the bread on a bbq or on a grillpan on both sides and rub them only twice with the halved garlic and cover them with a big spoon of the puree and half a ball of mozarella.

Add the peashoots, the rest of the mintleaves and the small beans and peas that you kept separate in a bowl with the rest of the lemonjuice, salt and pepper and put the salad on top of the crostini. Decorate with a few drips of olive oil and some grated pecorino.

Now to just leave you with something rather funny; I was throwing something away in the bin at the end of the garden and heard serious buzzing. We have a bird’s house hanging there which is occupied by a nest of bumblebees. The house is hanging against our shed and we’ve had the bumblebees there for the second year now. I had a quick look to see what all the buzzing was about and then I noticed this tiny bumblebee sitting in the opening of the house flapping it’s wings like crazy. That was the humming sound I had heard! I think he was trying to get some cool air into the nest. I can only imagine how hot it must be in there if they do that! I thought it was rather cute.

In the meantime the thunder and rain has started here, so hopefully it will become a little bit cooler now!