One of my earliest online customers, Mary Anita, wrote me recently about her love affaire with Red Nightfall.
Hi Steve, I’m sure you remember me as a great bean lover. However, I
have found the bean of my dreams!! The red nightfall is the most
delightful morsel I’ve ever tasted. I bought them just because of their
great beauty when I shopped at the Ferry Bldg in Dec. I cooked a batch
to serve with some animal part or another and fell in love with the
richness of the pot liquor and the delectability of the bean.
Last night I made a cassoulet/cazuela (more Spanish than French) with
chicken thighs, aidells garlic chicken sausage, a bit of my homegrown,
canned tomatoes, pimenton and bread crumbs. I sprinkled a bit of
gremolata on top, served with crusty bread, arugula and tangerine salad
from the garden with a walnut oil meyer lemon vinaigrette They
remarkably hold their shape and, to be delicate, do not cause digestive
effects.
Rio Zape is my favorite Mexican cooking bean, but Red Nightfall is now
my favorite European ingredient. I normally don’t get up from the dinner
table to report on my culinary accomplishments, but tonight I was
compelled and it was leftovers!
I think these are one of my favorite looking beans and the flavor and texture are out of this world as well. Sometimes you see them called Mayflower and the story is they came over with the pilgrims, but being that these are a New World bean, I rather doubt it.
