Crispy White Beans with Chili Oil
- 8 cups white beans, cooked
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 3/4 plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup chili oil
- 1 cup Arborio Rice Coating, recipe follows
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced garlic
- Grey salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon thinly sliced serrano or jalapeno chile
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves
- 1 tablespoon julienned lemon zest
- In a bowl, let the beans soak in the buttermilk for a few minutes, then drain in a sieve.
- Place the sieve over a bowl.
- Heat 3/4 cup olive oil and the chili oil in a 10-inch skillet over high heat.
- While the oil is heating, sprinkle the coating over the beans and shake in the sieve to coat the beans well.
- Repeat with the coating that falls into the bowl.
- Don't worry if they don't absorb all the coating.
- Carefully add the beans to the hot oil, spread them into an even layer, and cook without stirring until they are browned and crisp on the bottom, 6 to 7 minutes.
- Turn with a spatula and brown on the other side, another 5 to 6 minutes, adjusting the heat so they don't burn.
- When they are evenly browned, add sliced garlic and brown for another 3 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Add chiles to the pan, and continue to fry for another 15 seconds before adding the sage.
- With a slotted spoon, transfer the beans to paper towels to drain.
- Saute until the leaves turn crisp, about 1 minute.
- Top with lemon zest, then remove from the heat.
- Chef's Notes:
- The Arborio Rice Coating is by far the best coating I know for anything fried.
- It gives an especially crisp crust to fried fish fillets, squid, shrimp, eggplant and veal cutlets.
- You may as well make a lot because it keeps well in the freezer, and it's hard to grind less than 1 cup of rice in a blender.
- If you have a spice mill, you can halve the recipe.
- Arborio Rice Coating is one of the few places I use table salt.
- Sea salt and kosher salt are too heavy to stay evenly distributed in the coating.
- Bringing the beans up to a simmer slowly helps keep the skins from splitting.
- 1 cup Arborio rice
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup semolina
- 2 tablespoons table salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Grind the rice in a blender until very fine.
- Put it in a bowl and add the all-purpose flour, semolina, salt and pepper.
- Toss until well blended.
- Store in a sealed container in the freezer for maximum freshness.
- Yield: about 5 cups
white beans, buttermilk, extravirgin olive oil, chili oil, coating, garlic, salt, freshly ground pepper, serrano, sage, lemon zest
Taken from www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-chiarello/crispy-white-beans-with-chili-oil-recipe.html (may not work)