Greek Beans. Gigantes Plaki. And Labneh

Northeast 4, veering southeast 5 or 6, veering southwest later.

Slight or moderate.

Occasional rain.

Good, occasionally poor.

What a glorious day today. The weather in the UK can be pretty nondescript, but if the sun is shining, it is more beautiful than anywhere else. Especially at the seaside. On top of it I had free today. Well, not exactly, but needed to do training which is kindly provided online. So I had time to cook a dish which I can normally only do at the weekend. The giant Greek beans, called Gigantes Plaki.

No, its not like beans on toast, it is more. Its sunshine and summer and blue skies and Anthony Quinn dancing the Sirtaki.

Top that with Labneh, open a bottle of chilled Rose and you are in heaven.

Both dishes are easy to do. For Labneh you need to do hardly anything and the beans cook by themselves. The only item you will need and might not have (for the Labneh) is the cheesecloth. I already mentioned in the Frittata recipe how useful it is and why you should get one. Honestly, it`s a few pence and once you made Labneh once, you will use it again and again.

Labneh is nothing else but very fresh cheese, made from yoghurt. Or compressed yoghurt. Or yoghurt curds. Or however you want to call it. You know these cool balls of cheesy thingies you can buy in jars which are swimming in oil, like this?

Thats Labneh.

All you have to do is fill 500gr of plain yoghurt into the cloth, tie the ends together and hang it up (preferable with a bowl beneath unless you feel like cleaning the kitchen). It should not sit in the bowl or in a sieve; it needs to be high up. If you have a very tall bowl, you can put a wooden spoon through the ends and rest this over the rim of the bowl. I tie it to the handles of my cupboards (like this blogger), this blogger uses a banana stand, I reckon you can tie it to your clothes drier.

Let it sit for a few hours (preferable over night) and that is that. No other action required.

Well.. I like to put a few chopped up leaves of mint, a bit of fresh dill, garlic and salt into the yoghurt, but you don’t have to. You can season it the next morning when it is ready but I am lazy and just like to put the Labneh, as it is and had time to get the taste from the ingredients over night, in a small bowl into the fridge.

You can chuck the liquid, the whey, away; but if you do your own bread, keep it and use it instead of water. Really awesome, do try it!

The beans are equally easy. It is very unlikely that you get the giant beans, but oddly enough a little Middle Eastern shop around the corner of me has them (and I do live in the woods!). He clearly bought them in Germany and I was unable to pronounce their original name. But here is a picture, maybe yours sells them as well.

Anyway, butter beans are equally alright and I made them many times with your humble supermarket tin. The amount is more than for one portion, it will give you a nice lunch for another day. They keep about 5 days in the fridge.

Greek Beans Gigantes Plaki

1 tin of butter beans, drained and washed

2 tablespoons of olive oil

4 cloves of garlic

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 tsp dried oregano

4-6 tablespoons of hot water

1 tin chopped tomatoes

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Half a teaspoon of honey or even better maple syrup

1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 180C /Gas mark 3
Pour into a large oven proof pot the olive oil, add the chopped shallot, 2 whole garlic cloves (peeled) and bake at 180C, until softened and slightly coloured (approx. 15 minutes).

Turn the pan out of the oven; add the beans (drained), 4 tablespoons of hot water and season with salt, pepper and the oregano. Put back in the oven and bake for 40-60 minutes. Top up with water if necessary, however they should be nearly dry for the next stage.

Put in the chopped tomatoes, the maple syrup, the other two garlic cloves (this time finely chopped) and add a bit or of salt if necessary. Bake for another 60 minutes, until the sauce is very thick. Here again, if it is too quick, add a bit more water and taste and season if necessary. Remember you cant take salt out of a dish and once it will be thick it can get too salty. However you want a gutsy, garlicky and salty flavour.

Take out and let cool to at least room temperature, then put it into the fridge and let the ingredients develop their unique taste.

Serve with parsley sprinkled over.

Top with Labneh if you want. But you can also use the Labneh as a side dish, omit the Labneh altogether this time and have it tomorrow on your hot toast. You can grill a bit of feta and have it with the (cold) beans, or you can just go repeatedly go the fridge, try a spoonful until it is all gone, and then tell yourself that you have hardly eaten anything today.

Verdict:.

Delicious. Topped mine with half of the Labneh and ate with warm pitta bread.

Since it was such a beautiful day, I thought it is a shame to distort my photo into sepia; so you have it now in its full colourful glory.