The theme for this week for I Heart Cooking Clubs was Pantry Magic (What kind of magic can you create from your pantry this week?). One of Donna Hay's cookbooks is actually entitled Off the Shelf: Cooking from the Pantry, and I have cooked a substantial number of recipes from that book (it is one we have been using in Wednesdays with Donna Hay), and the recipes in that book are wonderful to have at my fingertips for those times when you just stand in front of your pantry and wonder what you can possibly throw together with a few ingredients and a little amount of time, that book is priceless. So in the spirit of pantry cooking, I looked through my Simple Dinners cookbook (the one I am showcasing for the next six months with IHCC) and chose Porcini, Bacon, and Maple Beans on page 71.
I could not find the recipe online so you will need to buy the book or
take a loaner from the library.
The ingredient list: dried porcini mushrooms, boiling water, olive oil, leek, bacon, chicken stock, borlotti bean (cranberry beans or pinto beans), maple syrup, sea salt, cracked black pepper, and parsley.
Not too much to say about a little bowl of beans, is there? Except that this was delicious...the flavors of bacon, onion, and mushrooms just perk up plain old beans like you wouldn't believe. The recipe is spot on with just the right amounts of everything.
She suggested serving it with buttered toast, so we did that and I have to say, never being a fan of anything remotely resembling beans and toast, I would definitely make this and eat it again, it was flavorful and filling. Definitely worthy of a repeat.
Please visit the I Heart Cooking Clubs site to see what the others made, you just click on their photo entry and it links you to their post/recipe.