String beans with bacalao – Αμπελοφασουλα με βακαλαο

Today’s dish belongs to the minimalist school, and as such requires tender loving care for the flavors and the textures. It is my own creation, and I am sure that if you like the ingredients, you will love the dish as much as I do.

Although it is the middle of October 2011, I had in the freezer  a bag with fresh string beans and in the middle of a rainy dark day I felt the urge to cook them. I cook them lightly in boiling salted water so that they remain crunchy. I love the texture of string beans and immensely enjoy the crunch. After boiling, I let them cool off in room temperature.

The day before I had put in fresh water two fillets of salted bacalao to desalinate. The marriage was inevitable, even though it was not the result of a plan, but of sheer coincidence. I have learned from my Basque friends to prepare the bacalao in low heat with the skin down, so I cut the fillets in pieces.

Both ingredients are best friends with garlic, so the next step was to chop plenty of garlic. I like very much the combination of garlic and chilli, so I chopped some chilli peppers and through them in a deep pan with the garlic and olive oil.

I place the pieces of bacalao on top and let it cook in low heat, so that all the natural juices of the fish mix with the garlic and the chilli in a mild way that preseres natural flavor to the maximum.

After 10 minutes the fish is ready and there is a fantastic sauce in the pan that is going to dress the beans.

Serve the dressed beans in a deep dish and put on top a piece of bacalao. Enjoy with a “Asyrtiko” white wine from the island of Santorini in Greece.