Fava beans have always seemed like one of those exotic and inaccessible foods that I would probably never get in the habit of eating, a reputation probably garnered at least in part by The Silence of the Lambs. When I finally got to try them at Tìa Pol a couple weeks back, I fell in love. As you’ll recall, the cheesy purée on toast was my favorite dish of the night. So I was delighted when my parents surprised me with a bag of fava bean pods.
But what to do with my magic beans? I decided I wanted to prepare them as simply as possible to showcase their flavors. Taking a page from The Food Section’s book, I decided to grill the fava beans in their pods. I didn’t bother tossing them with olive oil and salt because they wouldn’t have penetrated the pods and I knew I wouldn’t be eating the beans on their own. Once blackened and cooled, the pods had reduced to a limp tissue that tore away easily. Peeling back the inner skins was a little more difficult, not because they were tough but because the beans were so fragile that they crumbled if not handled delicately. From what I hear, though, it was a lot easier than shelling them raw. Though the beans had the starchy texture of lima beans, they tasted mildly sweet and pure green.
As for how to incorporate them into an entree, I was loosely inspired by Leite’s Culinaria’s Pan Roasted Halibut Fillets and Cheeks. Rather than morels and halibut cheeks, however, I used thinly sliced baby portobellos and a giant halibut steak. The portobellos went easily into a simple garlic butter sauce bolstered by some lobster stock that I had lying around. Searing the unwieldy halibut steak was a little more difficult than I thought it would be. Apparently halibut is not a fish that sears, especially on a regular aluminum pan, and you’ll notice that I recommend a nonstick one in the recipe below. It was delicious, though, with moist, snowy flakes and a subtly sweet flavor. It easily took center stage, set off by the mushroom sauce and freshened by the fava beans scattered on top. Perfect for having an old friend for dinner.
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