Ceci
These days it’s almost old-fashioned to cook your own beans, even for restaurants. While canned are surprisingly good (I included many canned beans in recipes in my last book, A Twist of the Wrist), homemade beans are so much better. The key to good dried beans is to cook them long enough so that they become creamy. Many restaurants undercook their beans, and frankly I would rather have canned beans than beans that are dry and chalky.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 2 cups cooked ceci
Ingredients
Preparation
Drain the ceci and put them in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover them by 1 1/2 inches, salt, and the olive oil. Place the carrot, celery, chile, garlic, and onion in a doubled piece of cheesecloth and tie it into a closed bundle with kitchen twine. Add the bundle to the pot with the ceci and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer the ceci until they are very tender and creamy, about 2 hours, adding more water to the pot as needed but never covering them by more than an inch to an inch and a half. (Cooking them in just enough water yields richer-tasting, creamier beans than if you were to just boil them in tons of water.) (Note: The time will vary greatly depending on how long you soaked the beans and how old the beans are; the time could be anywhere from 1 hour to as long as 4.) Turn off the heat and allow the ceci to cool in the cooking liquid. Remove and discard the cheesecloth bundle. The ceci can be prepared to this point up to a week in advance. If you are using the ceci now, drain them, reserving the cooking liquid to use as a hearty, ceci-flavored base for vegetable soup. To use later, transfer the ceci and the cooking liquid to an airtight container and refrigerate until you are ready to use. Bring the ceci to room temperature and drain them before using.
