The Hawthornes Cook Garden Beans And Tile Fish.

 

   Today for lunch, we're having some fried tile fish filets

with beans freshly picked from my garden.

 I've had the pleasure of eating some lovely beans

for the past few weeks.

I'm growing 3 different types of bush beans -

your regular green bean,

a yellow bean,

and a purple bean.

 The interesting thing about purple beans

is that when you cook them, they turn green.

A pigment known as anthocyanin

is responsible for the purple color.

The heat from cooking breaks apart the molecules

on the surface of the bean,

 exposing the underlying chlorophyll, which is green.

A similar action takes place with leaves in the fall.

As the weather changes to shorter days and cooler nights,

sugars stop providing nutrients to the leaves,

and the different pigments that lay underneath the green are exposed.

 I covered these beans and steamed them for 8 minutes

(I like my beans al dente.),

checking every now and then to watch the process

 of anthocyaninic decomposition.

 There is no discernible difference in taste
between the different colors.

 

 The original purple beans are the darker green beans

which look like the overcooked olive drab beans
of Southern cookery, but they're not.

They're al dente.

 Mr. Hawthorne prepares the tile fish:

Here's his fry station:

 Green bowl - flour seasoned with Old Bay

Yellow bowl - 2 beaten eggs

Clear bowl - half Panko, half Semolina flour

Dredge the filets through the flour,

then the eggs, then the Panko mixture.

Have your oil at 350 degrees.

Too low a temperature,

you end up with greasy food.

Too high a temperature,

you end up with burnt food.

 Depending on the size of your filets,

fry 2-3 at a time.

You never want to crowd the pan when you fry.

This lowers the temperature of the oil,

resulting in a soggy, not crispy, crust,
and greasy food.

 Add in the filets one at a time.

  Fry until golden brown,

about three minutes.

Drain on paper towels.

 I added a little butter and salt to my beans.

 I sprinkled some basil and tarragon leaves around.

The fish was lightly breaded and fried to perfection.

And there's nothing like green beans

just picked from the garden and steamed.

 Crunchy tender.

You can't believe the difference between fresh green beans

and supermarket green beans.

There's no comparison.

 For a special touch,

I added a plop of Mr. Hawthorne's
 homemade basil mayonnaise

on top of the fish filets.

 That pretty yellow in the basil mayonnaise

is tarragon flowers.

This was a lovely, delightful meal.

I am happy.

Good food = happiness.