Recipe; Italian bean salad gone hot, and some more

I used to eat an Italian runner bean recipe from Modena a lot in summer.
Now after my stunning failure to make  roast beef the night before, I
had to present the family with some stunning food.
I just wasn’t sure what to make, as I didn’t want to make anything standard.
So, I figured to spice up an Italian bean salad, and just see if it
was good, and do some goodies next to it.
For the bean salad you need runner beans, but if not available you can
take green beans or haricot vert.
Cook them in broth, so how to go about that?
Chicken breast, presented with mushroom sauce?
Well I often get chicken breast too dry, so . . . . . Have to figure
something on that.
I might pack them with lard or bacon.
Pasta with it maybe, light and tasty to smooth the tongue after eating
something hot.

It all tasted very lovely, the wife and kids ate it like there’s was
no tomorrow.
So I guess it was good.

Here we go:

You need
3 chicken breasts
500 gram runner beans, green beans or Haricot Vert
400 gram pasta
200 gram white mushrooms
100 gram Tree onion or spring onion
100 gram saucisson sec, dried sausage or Metworst
Flour
Butter
Milk
Olive Oil Extra Vierge
Balsamic vinegar, if possible Aceto Balsamico di Modena I.G.P.
Garlic, super fresh, if possible Rosé de Lautrec
Fresh chillies, red for looks, one or two will do.
Chicken stock cubes.

Place the chicken breasts just under cold water in a pan. If it totals
1 Litre, add stock cubes accordingly for one Litre.
bring them to the boil very slowly, this will keep the breasts moist and tender.

Slice your runner beans Julienne, or your green beans in 3-4 pieces.
Wash them in cold water..

very young garlic Rosé de Lautrec

Slice your garlic very fine, don’t squash them, slice and cut to very
small snippets.
Slice 1 or 2 red chillies in ultra fine slices and put them together
with the garlic..

Slice your tree onion in about 5mm slices, use the green part as well.

StJansui, a local onion.Heirloom fresh from the garden.

Slice your saucisson sec in very fine slices, quartering it also.

Slice your table mushrooms.

At this time your chicken breasts will have had a simmer for about 15
minutes, drain half of the stock and add this to the beans.
Keep the chicken breasts warm or at a very low simmer.

Bring the beans to the boil in the stock, and then lower the heat.
simmer the beans to your taste 15-20mins max.
When at the point where you like them cool them down fast by rinsing
them with cold water.

Take one tablespoon of olive oil and put it in a salad bowl, add the
sliced garlic and the sliced chillies, and about 2 teaspoons of
Balsamic.
Stir for a bit and then add the cold beans, mix it all gently and let
it sit for 10 minutes to mix again.

Put your pasta in water, and bring it to the boil.
Make a white standard sauce, about half a litre, with the flour and
the butter; add milk until it is nice and just about runny.
Take half, and put the saucisson sec in it and let it simmer until the
pasta is done.
This will thicken a bit, due to the saucisson sec giving off taste and
absorbing a bit of moisture.

Fry the white mushrooms at the same time, when done add the rest of
the white sauce.
This will make a nice show if you put some over the fried chicken breasts.

Take the chicken breasts out of the stock and neatly roll then in the
slices pork belly bacon.
Fry them with a little oil, to get the bacon to colour; this will take
about 5 minutes

Add the white sauce with saucisson sec to the pasta when it is ready
and drained. Scoop it over a bit and add the tree onion just before
you serve it.

Present it any way you like, and have a great dinner !!

Not really a nice presentation, but man was I hungry!

For vegetarians, the bean salad is originally without chilli, and 50/50 with pasta.
And it tastes superb like that, even though I still would add some chilli, but that's me.

Yours truly,

Bart J. Meijer