A runner bean stew

Sunday 8.25pm

Roast lamb for Sunday dinner, but seeing as we are going out to the circus this afternoon I think I’ll cook it early and serve it warm with some salads that I can make before we go. So lamb roasted slowly with just salt and pepper rubbed in, the flavourings will be in the accompaniments – potato salad, plain boiled potatoes, mushrooms a la grecque, a mixed salad and some runner beans from the garden cooked as a stew in a tomato sauce to be served at room temperature.

Into a deep frying pan goes a clove of garlic and a chopped red onion to cook slowly in oil and butter whilst I wash and top and tail the green beans then cut them into one inch pieces, nice tender ones these with no strings down the sides. Once the onion is clear, in goes half a glass of dry white wine (sauvignon blanc in this case), a tablespoon of tomato puree (left over from the mushrooms) the juice of half a lemon (from next doors tree, I am sure they will not mind) a teaspoon of sugar, half a teaspoon of ground cumin, salt, pepper and of course the beans – a couple or three big handfuls.

Just have to wait for the beans to cook now, ten minutes or so in this case, keeping an eye on it, and adding some water if it all gets too dry and at the end turning then heat up a bit to end up with a thick sauce. Once cool I sprinkled on some coriander before serving.

A nice simple dish, with the feel of a Spanish tapas dish, and even better - some left over for my lunch tomorrow, but only just , I think Nicola was hungry.