Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Green Beans with Walnuts, Walnut Oil, and Grains of Paradise

Sometimes the simplest things really are the best. A mix of green beans, walnuts, walnut oil, and grains of paradise is one of those simple things. Well, it's simple if you can easily get your hands on walnut oil and if you're lucky enough to locate grains of paradise. We do have walnut oil in a few of our grocery stores here, but that may not be common in other places. The spice grains of paradise was another matter. I hadn't even heard of it before I read Amanda Hesser's Cooking for Mr. Latte. In that book, she mentioned it several times, and one mention in particular was in a dish of haricots verts with walnuts and walnut oil to which she suggested adding small potatoes. A few weeks ago, there was a party at Rain Lily Farm in Austin celebrating Hesser's new book The Essential New York Times Cook Book. When she signed my copy of the new book, I mentioned to her that I had been trying to find grains of paradise because I'd become so curious about it. She encouraged me to keep looking. When I got home, just for fun, I checked to see if this spice was used in any dishes in the new book of over 1,000 recipes from the New York Times. The index led me to page 30 for a Bloody Paradise which is a bloody mary cocktail made with grains of paradise. Hesser wrote in the intro to that recipe that she had become obsessed with the spice in 2000 and was (jokingly) sure Americans would become convinced they couldn't live without it. Well, one did. As luck would have it, just two weeks ago, Austin got its very own, brand new Savory Spice Shop. Let me just say that I now have easy access to not just grains of paradise but also tomato powder, various cocoa powders, a plethora of chile powders, and peppercorns of every color.

So, what are grains of paradise anyway, you may be wondering. I turned to my deluxe edition of the Food Lover's Companion which I received as a review copy last year. In the spice glossary, grains of paradise are defined as "small, brown, round seeds indigenous to the west coast of Africa and used as a spice. Though hot and pungent, this spice has an exotic spicy quality that hints of ginger, cardamom, coriander, citrus, and nutmeg." Hesser uses it interchangeably with black pepper. In the top right photo below, black peppercorns are on the left and grains of paradise are on the right. The grains need to be ground just like black pepper, and I placed mine in a spare peppermill for easy use. Kurt and I tasted ground grains of paradise side by side with freshly ground black pepper. We found the two spices to be similar with grains of paradise seeming less hot and more herby with a slightly stronger, almost piney flavor that's also found in black pepper. I detected a faint suggestion of nutmeg in it as well.

I prepped the green bean dish just as it was described in Cooking for Mr. Latte. I used CSA green beans, rather than haricots verts, which were blanched, drained, and dried and then tossed with toasted walnuts, roasted potatoes, walnut oil, and ground grains of paradise. It was a delicious combination of flavors and textures set off by an interesting spice. The dish couldn't have been simpler once I knew exactly what the spice was and where to find it. Hope you're having a simple and splendid holiday week. Happy Thanksgiving!



24 comments:

  1. This is beautiful. I'd love this as an accompaniment for roast chicken. Never heard of grains of paradise before, I'll have to look out for them.
    Wishing you and your family a wonderful thanksgiving. May you always have much to be thankful for daaaahling!
    *kisses* HH

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  2. I've been intrigued by grains of paradise for the longest time, very curious to taste it

    I will look for it once I'm back in LA next week

    This recipe sounds like a keeper, I love walnut oil...

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  3. The beans look beautiful! I'll have to check out grains of paradise when I finally make it to Savory Spice. I'm a little scared to go- will prabably want one of everything. Have a great Turkey Day in CO and can't wait to see the delicious looking posts on the fabulous meal I'm sure you're cooking!

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  4. I've never heard of those grains before... That is a great side dish!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  5. This dish looks so good.
    I've never heard about those grains!

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  6. LOVE this side dish! Perfect for the season. Must try those grains. Happy Thanksgiving!

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  7. I have never heard of grains of paradise before! But the dish in itself, and the green beans, looks fantastic, I'd definitely be up for trying it out!

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  8. I LOVE that book. I bought some Grains of Paradise after reading it and promptly forgot about them after realizing that they didn't taste all that different than pepper (to me). But this kind of dish is something I would happily eat for dinner any night of the week. I hope you have a very happy Thanksgiving Lisa!

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  9. this dish is perfect for the holidays:) i cant wait to make some soon. thanks for sharing this.

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  10. Wow, it's fascinating to learn about grains of paradise! I would love to get my hands on that spice! Green beans sound so good flavored with it!

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  11. I second that, fascinating to learn about grains of paradise & agree that Walnut oil when you can find it adds a lovely flavour.

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  12. Looks delicious!!! Green beans are always on my shopping list everytime I shop, so it's good to learn new ways of cooking them.

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  13. these grains of paradise sound like grains from paradise--i'm definitely on the lookout for some of my own! great dish, lisa. :)

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  14. What an interesting dish! looks absolutely delicious. Gorgeous photos, as always!

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  15. I do have walnut oil & I love it. I had never heard of grains of paradise before this dish. I will now be on the hunt to try them :)

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  16. How funny! An old old friend sent me the announcement about his sister opening a spice shop in Austin, same one! (they are Lebanese 3rd generation); anyway, never heard of these grains until now, but hey, why not! the salad is awesome in its simplicity and wholesomeness. I agree with you, simple (and best quality) is best.

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  17. I wonder if Penzeys carries grains of paradise? Certainly worth the effort to find to make this delicious looking dish. - S

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  18. I will have to try grains of paradise. They sound intriguing.

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  19. Oooh, I love your story of hunting down grains of paradise, and now I'm so intrigued, I want to find it, too. Will have to figure out what it's called in French and see if I can find it at this spice shop that's supposed to have everything...it sounds wonderful!

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  20. This dish is so beautiful, not to mention nutritious. I love walnut and I would love to get my hands on some walnut oil to try in future.

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  21. I am a sucker for anything with walnut oil and am always up to try a new spice (much to the dismay of my spice drawer AND cabinet!!) We just had a Savory Spice open by us so I will heading there this week to search out this intriguing spice.

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  22. Oh this looks so hearty and delicious. I love green beans in just about anything.

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  23. I love roasted potatoes and green beans together! The walnut oil sounds so great in your version.

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  24. I'm going to be looking for Grains of Paradise when I'm out and about. I'd love to try this recipe.
    ~Loren

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