Dazz Switalla Flavour Secrets No.1 The Strand Chef www.no1thestrand.co.nz

There are plentiful supplies of beans around at the moment and using them up while they are still freshly picked is the most important flavour factor.

Beans come in an wide variety and something like scarlet runners are only found in your garden or early one Saturday at the Tauranga farmers market. There are also lots of recipes for bean salads and various ways of preparing different types of beans. A lot of beans are dried and served as bases for casserole type dishes and puréed as dips.

Many varieties are traced back to the central America mountains which is why the hot dry conditions bring out the best in the beans.

This week for the recipe I have harvested butter beans and round beans from the garden and made two of my favourite ways to enjoy this easy to grow crop. According to the garden gurus, beans should always best planted from seed rather than bought ready grown and it's not a hard crop to grow and can be grown upwards in any sunny spot.

Crispy green beans with yoghurt and mustard mayonaise
2 serves

Crust

1tablespoon fennel seeds

1teaspoon smoked paprika

¼ cup fine polenta

½ cup ground almonds

1tablespoon sea salt

1teaspoon cracked black pepper

1 pinch of baking soda

1 beaten egg

½ cup milk

2 large handful's of fresh beans

2 tablespoons cornflour for dusting

Hollandaise

2 egg yokes

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard

200 mills natural plain yoghurt

Method

crush the fennel seeds in a mortar and pestal add to the rest of the dry ingredients. Whisk up the eggs and the milk,blanch the beans briefly in boiling water then iced water drain well. Toss the drained beans in cornflour then egg mix then into the coating mix allow to set in the fridge for ten to fifteen minutes. Over a double boiler whisk the egg yokes, lemon juice and mustard together then take off the heat when thickened and add the yoghurt to make a sauce consistency. Cook the beans in a shallow pan with a little oil then drain on kitchen paper,arrange on plate with sauce.

Duo of beans with feta and bacon
4 serves

Ingredients

1 handful of green beans

1 handful of butter beans

100 grams Danish feta

4 rashers of streaky bacon

salt and pepper

olive oil for drizzling

Method

Trim the beans but leave them uncooked lay them out on top of the strip of bacon in colour sequence. Season well with salt and pepper then place a cube of feta in the middle and roll up. Drizzle with olive oil and bake in a moderate oven 180.c for fifteen minutes. serve simply as a snack or part of a main course.