Country beans
The feeling of a full English breakfast in the countryside.
If I’m lucky, I find myself spending a weekend in the countryside, especially in towns that feel adjacent to parts of Europe. There are a couple of towns near where I live that particularly feel like the English countryside! And on those weekends, making a full English breakfast in the Airbnb with horses and sheep (and kangaroos) grazing outside the kitchen window is entirely all I want to do. This is my favorite Airbnb I’ve ever stayed in - an off grid 1870s stone cottage set on 100 acres, with horses living on the property and plenty of sheep, kangaroos, bunnies, birds and alpacas (the guardian angels of sheep). I stayed here for my birthday and fed the horses hay, cooked on the AGA and managed some very successful thrifting too.
This dish is the marriage of roasted cherry tomatoes, even though they are not roasted at all, and English baked beans. Because in my mind, I never want either one separately, but together, cooked down in chicken stock and verjus until the beans no longer taste of themselves and more of buttery tomatoes. Don’t discard the tomato vines! Repurpose them by infusing cream, butter or oil with the green vines to make a tomato vine cream, butter or oil to use for something else.
It’s meant to be quick - something to put together in a pot and simmer over the stove while you toast the sourdough, scramble the eggs and set the table. A bottle of Worcestershire sauce on the side is the best thing to ever happen to a full English breakfast! I adore this pot specifically for all things that are best simmered and stirred.
Use Heinz Baked Beans (the English recipe ones) if you can find them, they’re worth it, or any tomato based baked beans will work. They’re available to purchase here.
Country beans
Serves 4, as part of a full English breakfast
Total time: 25 mins
Ingredients
400-500g cherry tomatoes on the vine
2 tbsp, 30g, butter, salted
2 tsp powdered chicken stock
1/4 cup verjus
2 tsp cider vinegar, or malt vinegar
1-2 rosemary sprigs
1 lemon cheek
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
150g tomato based baked beans, about 1/2 a standard 300g tin
Method
Combine ingredients: In a pot, combine cherry tomatoes (save the vines for infusing with cream, butter or oil), butter, powdered chicken stock, verjus, cider vinegar, rosemary, lemon, black pepper and 1/4 cup of water.
Simmer: Bring to a simmer, then cover with a lid. Keep over medium-high heat. Allow to simmer 5 mins. The tomatoes should burst and soften, their juices should help develop a sauce. Simmer with the lid off for an additional 5 mins. Discard the rosemary and lemon.
Add beans: Stir the beans through the pot. Keep over medium heat and simmer an additional 3-5 mins, until thickened to your liking.
Finish: Taste and adjust for salt. Depending on your powdered chicken stock, you may or may not need to add salt. Let cool slightly. Serve with bacon, eggs, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms and buttered toast… the works!