other people's kitchens: zeytinyağlı taze fasulye

There haven't been enough recipes around here lately. I have in fact been cooking--a lot--but in a sort of haphazard fashion, as an interloper in other people's kitchens, due to my current nomadic lifestyle. And hence, not taking photographs (without which the food blogging isn't nearly as fun). But I've hijacked a rather nice digital camera and am back in play. This is called zeytinyağlı taze fasulye, or green beans in olive oil. It's one of a whole class of Turkish vegetable dishes, usually served as meze, known collectively as "zeytinyağlı," or dishes with olive oil. But this isn't just a Turkish dish--the Armenians make it too, the Greeks know it as fassolakia, and it's also common in the Levantine Arab countries, where it's usually called lubyi bi-zayt or fasoliyyeh bi-zayt.

At SF and G's place in Brooklyn, I made this dish as part of a massive meal of stuffed peppers, six different kinds of meze, fresh Turkish bread from a restaurant in Queens, and semolina halva for dessert. (At some point I'll get round to posting the rest of the recipes, especially the meze, and the peppers). I've been cooking fasulye a lot lately, since my youngest sister adores it and keeps requesting another batch. Eaten warm, maybe with some creamy yogurt and toasted walnut bread from the Essential Baking Co., it's a perfect winter dish, salty-sweet, slicked with olive oil, and tangy from the garlic and onions.


ingredients:

4-5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (it's worth using quality stuff)
1 large onion, chopped
5-6 cloves garlic (depending on size), roughly chopped
1- 1.5 lb (or about 400-500 grams) fresh green beans, trimmed
1 can diced tomatoes or 2-3 fresh tomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 tsp sugar
kosher/sea salt and fresh-ground black pepper
mint, allspice, and parsley (optional)

Heat about 4 tbsp oil in a large pot. Fry the onions and garlic over medium-high heat until soft and golden, then add tomatoes and cook until soft (if fresh). Add the green beans, stock, about 1 tsp of sugar and a tablespoon of sea salt, and just a touch of allspice and pepper (about 1/4 teaspoon or less) and mint and parsley (maybe 1/2 a teaspoon apiece). Cover and reduce heat to low-medium, and cook for at least 3o minutes, preferably longer, stirring occasionally, letting steam escape if the mixture is too watery, and adding more salt, pepper, and olive oil to taste. The beans should be soft all the way through, almost melting, and the olive oil should bind the tomato and onion to them. You can use less oil if you're trying to be healthy, but make sure there's enough to give the dish the right texture. Fasulye can be eaten hot or cold, and make brilliant leftovers. They're usually served as a side or one of many meze, but I'm perfectly happy to just eat a bowl of them straight for dinner.