I agree with Gretchen, the RG version of gigantes are really amazing- and so large it’s comical! In the moment they seem expensive but then i get like eight meals from one package with minimal additional ingredients
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An article from Seriouseats. I wish I could see the date on it.
The first comment is from 1/27/16.
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Thank you! And and I noticed I could see a date in the link address. I wonder why the date isn’t included in the article.
It looks like Serious Eats doesn’t date any of its articles, which is pretty damn annoying, if you ask me.
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thanks for the article
So, decided to use some of my rancho gordo beans to make chicken soup with beans
Went to Giant Grocery store, bought a rotisserie chicken, shredded the chicken, left the carcass, added the stock from the ends of my 2 pounds of asparagus ( 1 lb that was used for Szechuan beef last night, ), that I had simmered on the stove, added bay leaf, rancho gordo’s Mexican and Indio oregano , a medium onion, a few cloves of garlic , diced carrots, celery, sweet pepper, and some Costco’s frozen mixed vegetables ( corn, carrots, green bean) simmered the chicken for an hour after it came to a boil.
In the meantime, I soaked 2/3 lb of the rancho gordo royal corona bean and 1/2 lb of their cranberry beans overnight, Boiled the beans separately, then simmered for 2 hours the royal corona, 45 minutes for the cranberry beans after adding caramelized onion.
I then mixed the beans to the chicken soup, added some asparagus, simmered for another 15 minutes, adjust seasoning.
Was good served with Italian store’s crusty garlic bread.
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@ccj Nice!
I made these Domingo Rojos ( and extra pot likker) in my Instant pot.
And plan to use them in this NOT Mexican recipe for Jamaican Stew Peas
Instant Pot Jamaican Stew Peas
to share with the hubs when he returns tommorow after a week away. I may share my “jerked” country style ribs as well, but as I’ve said before, he is not a fan of “fatty meat”.
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Interesting that the heirloom black bean was the one that the judges preferred in a blind tasting. I wonder if I was doing a Cuban style back bean prep as apposed to a straight up bean prep would the difference be as notable. Figure the other ingredients would have a significant influence
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D’Artagnan has pretty worthy sales frequently, and their cassoulet items would probably be coming (I write in Sept.), as the food is regarded as Winter food.
I have used tarbais beans twice (from D’Artagnan), and they are special. Not really distinguishable from cannellini or great northern (both worthy subs in cassoulet), but tarbais beans have a textural distinctiveness. They hold up well under long cooking, and they have a unique way of limited bursting of the skin under long cooking while retaining integrity in the interior. (When most other beans go to bursting, they’re already rather mushy throughout.) So I think tarbais’s tops for cassoulet, perhaps as the bursting admits a limited portion of the broth into the bean.
I was at a Greek market in Queens recently and picked up a packet of their (generic?) gigantes to try - 3A or 3Alpha brand. They are wonderful, and a far cry from the Goya available at the markets closer to me.
Cooked simply, with onions, garlic, and the barest of other seasonings - the beans really shine, tender and creamy.
That said, I’ve tried the traditional tomato sauce version from a can and those are lovely too.
Any ideas on meals built around these? How do you make butter beans/gigantes/dried limas?
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I make a bean and kale gratin with gigantes-type beans (Royal Coronas from Rancho Gordo) that is really yummy.
EVOO, quite a bit
1 smallish onion, diced
1 to 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 cup Pomi diced tomatoes
2 full soup spoons soy sauce
2 full soup spoons anchovy sauce (or 2 or 3 anchovies)
2 cups cooked from dry gigantes with some of their cooking juices
Lacinto kale, sliced small and blanched (I use a lot)
Panko tossed with EVOO (only a sprinkle, not a coat – btdt, distracts)
Spray oil
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Sauté onion and garlic in a bunch of EVOO; add Pomi diced tomatoes, anchovy sauce and soy sauce; add gigantes with their cooking juices and kale.
- Put in oil-sprayed casserole and sprinkle with panko drizzled with EVOO. Should go into 375 oven VERY soupy.
- Check after 30 minutes, may need 45.
For me, this is 3 servings. I have often thought adding some chorizo would be very tasty.
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Have not been posting pictures
problem : took over one hour for Apple to figure out why y pictures doe snot appear in my Mac Air lap top . They hope it is now fine but they wander what happened as my iCloud is working properly.
Finally they asked me to connect my laptop to my Phone, had some pictures taken the past few days, it then appeared.
Hope I can get it to work now,
Away, I have some left over Rancho Gordo’s beans from making D’artagnan’s duck confit casserole. ( they recommend 3 lbs of Coco Tarbais ( I am used to Whole Foods White beans) That is really too much beans, so I froze some of it with n elf the left over duck confit.
I think I will defrost those beans and cook it with onions, garlic, tomatoes , using part of. your recipe ( I do nto have kale) . I still have duck confit in my freezer, will add another one to it. Thanks
That sounds delicious and healthy. I’ll make it sans the anchovy paste since my son is a vegetarian. Gigantes are on my list for the next time I head to Wilson Farm in Lexington MA.
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Thanks! I don’t love kale but could sub other greens.
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I’d love to know more about this!
They would make a great addition to a greek salad with tomato/cucumber/feta/etc to make it more of a meal than a side dish.
And I’m thinking they would be great swapped into the spanish dish espinacas con alubias- i kind of follow the recipe from SK but use less oil, skip the additional bread in the sauce and use a lot more spinach… so kinda not the same at all! Great over toast, and if you’re a fan of the “egg on top” genre that would work well too.
Once it cools off enough soup is appealing they would make a nice addition to one of those thin single vegetable soups to add some heft- carrot ginger, or cauliflower, whatever. Although i would add a crunchy garnish too for some texture
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Oh, Saregama, Wilson is a wonderful farm/store outside of Boston. They have a gorgeous variety of their IPM vegetables and awesome corn along with many other temptations.They also carry Baer’s Beans, which are Massachusetts-grown. It’s quite affordable if you avoid the delicious and pricey prepared foods. It’s not exactly convenient for your location, though!
Anyway, I was mistaken about buying the gigantes there. I checked today and realized that I bought favas their to make Lebanese falafel with a mix of chick peans and favas. Now I can’t remember where I got the gigantes! It may have been at a local Greek grocer. I’ll be on a search.
