Truffled White Beans Food

BASIC WHITE BEANS

Steps:

• Soak the beans. Rinse the dried beans in water and put them in a large bowl. Cover with at least 4 times their volume of water and leave to soak overnight.
• Drain and rinse the beans and put them into a pot with a heavy lid. Add just enough cold water to cover them.
• Add the rosemary, garlic, and a drizzle of olive oil. Bring the beans to a boil, then cover and simmer them gently for 20 to 30 minutes or until the beans are tender but not mushy. The cooking time will depend on the size and age of the beans. Smaller and newer beans will require a shorter cooking time, so check on them after 20 minutes.

MASHED WHITE BEANS WITH TRUFFLE OIL

Steps:

• Sort the beans to make sure they are free of stones or other debris. Rinse, then cover with cold water, refrigerate, and soak overnight.
• The next day, drain the beans, place them in large pot, and cover with the stock. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer the beans for 2 hours, or until they are soft, tender and yield to pressure when squeezed between your finger tips.
• Add the salt only in the final 15 minutes of cooking since the addition of salt earlier in the cooking process will result in tough beans.
• Pour the beans in to the bowl of a food processor. Begin to pulse the beans along with any of the stock that may have remained from cooking. Add all the remaining ingredients except the truffle oil and pulse together with the warm bean puree. Taste and adjust the seasoning with additional salt and add freshly ground pepper if needed. Return the bean puree to a pot set over low heat or a double boiler to keep warm. Serve each portion of puree with a drizzle of truffle oil.

CRUSHED WHITE BEAN BRUSCHETTA WITH WHITE TRUFFLE OIL

Steps:

• In a large pot, combine the broth, beans, garlic, and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until the beans are tender, about 45 minutes.
• Season the beans, to taste, with salt and pepper. Cool in the liquid. Drain the beans, reserving the garlic cloves.
• Place the beans in a bowl and coarsely mash with a potato masher. Add 2 to 3 cloves of garlic and continue mashing. Mash in the olive oil, but keep the mixture fairly coarse. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the scallions and parsley. Spoon into a serving bowl and drizzle with white truffle oil. Serve with a basket of crisp toasts and the bottle of truffle oil, for more drizzling.

WHITE BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Place beans in heavy large pot. Add enough water to cover beans by 2 inches. Soak overnight. Drain beans.
• Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, leek, tomato, carrots, celery, garlic and bacon and sauté until vegetables are tender, about 6 minutes. Add beans, 10 1/2 cups chicken stock, chopped thyme and rosemary. Bring soup to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer until beans are very tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour.
• Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Return soup to pot. Add 1/2 cup whipping cream. Add more chicken stock by 1/4 cupfuls to thin soup, if desired. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into 8 bowls. Lightly drizzle top of each with white truffle oil, if desired.
• *White truffle oil is available at Italian markets, specialty foods stores and some supermarkets nationwide.

WHITE-BEAN PUREE WITH WHITE TRUFFLES

Steps:

• Cover the beans with water, and soak overnight. Or use the quick- soaking method: Cover the beans with water, bring to a boil, and boil 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, and set aside for 1 hour.
• Drain the beans and discard the soaking water. Place the beans, onion, sage, garlic and oil in soup kettle. Add fresh water to cover. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and cook, covered, at a bare simmer until the beans are very soft, 40 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the age of the beans. Keep a teakettle of water simmering, and as the beans absorb the liquid, add more water, little by little. The beans should always be covered by liquid but never swimming in it.
• If fresh sage is used, remove the sprigs and discard. Place the beans and liquid in a food processor, and process until very smooth. If using fresh white truffle, scrape half into the puree, and continue processing until well blended. Serve the puree immediately, with the remaining truffle shaved over the surface. If using truffle paste, puree the entire amount with the beans just before serving.

TRUFFLED WILD MUSHROOMS OVER WHIPPED WHITE BEANS

Steps:

• Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add leek and sauté 2 minutes. Stir in beans, broth, garlic, and thyme. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer bean mixture to food processor and blend until creamy and smooth. Return to skillet, cover, and keep warm.
• Heat remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil in medium skillet over high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté 8 minutes, or until soft and brown. Season with salt and pepper and stir in parsley.
• Spoon whipped bean mixture into shallow bowls. Top with equal portions of mushrooms. Drizzle each serving with 1/2 teaspoon truffle oil and serve.