Perfect for lamb chops.
I am happy to say that Monday updates should become much more common now that I’ve gotten myself on a schedule. I figured it was time to really kick it into high gear and finish off these last few recipes after mentally beating myself up the last few months for my overall laziness. Apologies to those of you out there that check in from time to time only to see the same thing on the front page every time. I’ll be better, I promise.
This recipe starts off with two heads of garlic roasting in the oven at a high temp until they were fairly soft when squeezed. I’ve got a request for you: Roast some garlic with the skin on this weekend if you’ve never done it before. It’s simple, the result is excellent, and you can use the soft cloves with lots of great things.
While I waited for the garlic heads to cool down, I moved over the the shallot part of this recipe. More than a dozen of the purple little bulbs were tossed with a little olive oil before taking the garlic’s place in the hot oven. Every so often, I checked in on the fellows to make sure they were merely roasting, and not burning.
A few minutes of snap-snap-snapping and the green beans called for were topped, tailed and ready for a quick dip in some salted boiling water.
As the shallots roasted and the haricots verts boiled, I moved on to a more interesting aspect of the recipe. In a small bowl I combined the soft roasted garlic, some chopped anchovy fillets, a decent amount of capers, some chopped curly parsley, and a dusting of freshly ground black pepper. Whew! A splash of olive oil and red wine vineagar completed the “dressing”.
Finally, it was time to remove the roasted shallots from the oven. As you can see here and there, the little orbs had softened and browned slightly. To finish this recipe, I combined the green beans, shallots, and “dressing” all together and tossed the amalgamation thoroughly.
Here’s the final product, served with a lamb chop (of course).
What an intriguing side dish. I rather enjoyed the sweet and powerful garlic and shallots mixed in with the green beans, but every other bite I’d get a bit of the anchovy and it would throw my taste buds for a loop. “Where the heck did that come from?!”, they shouted at me. You might think that the briny capers would present a similar reaction, but they were far more subtle and enjoyable than the overwhelming little fillet morsels. When I make this again, the anchovies will be left out in an attempt at a more harmonious conclusion.
One down, fifty to go.
I have made this recipe a couple of times and I think it’s delicious. Unfortunately, I am embarrassed to report that it gave me absolutely horrendous gas on the first two attempts, after which I left out the shallots. That seemed to do the trick. The shallots were very tender, so I don’t think under-cooking was the issue.
Hahahaha! Okay, since you mentioned it, I too got a bit of gas from this recipe. I think it’s tasty, but the anchovy was like scratching a needle across a record for me. I can’t explain it at all.
I would recommend working the anchovies, oil, garlic loveliness and vinegar into a completely smooth paste before adding the parsley and capers. Then you get the mysterious oily, salty, fishy flavors and the textural “gnya” of the parsley and capers that we all know and love……..
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Funny thing about anchovies. I like them, but like you, I think lots of recipes that use them as a prominent ingredient do so a bit too harshly. Usually I cut the anchovy amount in most recipes by half and that works for me. I can still tell they are there, but I can also taste the other ingredients. Coincidentally, I did that most recently with a green bean dish (I still have not posted about it) from a Jamie Oliver recipe. He uses a whole can of anchovies! I used half and the beans where delicious. Also mashing them is a good idea like Andy said. On the other hand I have no problem eating anchovies straight up on a slice of good bread. It’s just when they dominate a dish that they are supposed to play a minor role in that I do not like them.
Too bad the anchovies didn’t play well with others! I think they’re a great “secret ingredient,” but like you, don’t like it when they take over. E. Nassar’s suggestion of halving the anchovy amount in any given recipe sounds like a pretty good rule of thumb. Love the roasted shallots, though, and those green beans look gorgeous!
Ohhh…this one gives you gas??
I am SOOOO making this tonight!
Watch out Jackie!!!!
I’m curious whether it is curly parsley specifically – and not your usual ‘straight’ stuff:) – that one needs to employ here. I love the sound of the dish. I’ve got plenty of runner beans in the fridge, will make use of the idea for them I think
looks intensely delicious
AndyG: Myabe you’re right, but there is just something about that flavor that I love under other circumstances, that was just too much in this dish. Maybe cutting the request amount would help things mesh better. I do so love that “gnya” though.
E. Nassar: You took the words out of my head. Thanks for the excellent comment!
Camille: Hello Camille! Those were some awesome green beens, I’m pretty happy with our local supermarket lately. They’re getting some great produce in.
Booby: Oh no, did you already make this, or do I still have time to warn Jackie?
Katrina: I’m just following what Mr. Henderson told me.
Let me know if you happen to make this, and how it turned out for you.
exploded daniel: Thank you very much!
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