The other night I introduced a new and rather intriguing friend to my favorite legume: the cranberry bean. (Note: this episode looks much better in HD here.)

A white bean speckled with purple, the cranberry bean is at once homey and elegant–unadorned, a simple meal, or an excellent partner for caramelized onions, corn, and country bacon.

Shelled and simmered in stock, the beans become a base for conversational layers, and just as the bean dehisces, I find new people and places expose seams in my understanding, which, opened, lead to discovery…

watch this episode in HD on Vimeo

cranberry bean wallpaper on Flickr

drink pairing: earthy Pinot Noir

salt recommendation: Sel Gris

What would you stir into cranberry beans? Other thoughts on this favorite bean of mine?

Related posts:

1. kthread cooks: love to love you salmon cakes
2. kthread cooks: mushaboom
3. kthread cooks: conch fritters

1. Dana:
   May 21st, 2008 at 3:50 pm

   Funny, I was just wondering where to get cranberry beans here in C’ville while I rambled around the market last weekend. I was thinking pairing them with some garlicky kale, myself.

2. Kristen:
   May 21st, 2008 at 4:31 pm

   Dana, that sounds like a wonderful combination. Every time I cook cranberry beans I think of that afternoon we shelled them with Katrina–

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Posted Tuesday, May 20th, 2008, 9:26 pm * Filed in Entertaining, Food, Photography, Video. * . Follow responses through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.