Asparagus, mushrooms, and beans on toast

If you think the only things to put on toast are butter, jam or jelly, and possibly peanut butter, you’re missing some good eating. When I was a kid, my mom regularly served asparagus on toast and mushrooms on toast. I thought it was fairly exotic, since none of my friends at that at home, and I decided the custom was British, because Mom was always cooking to please Dad’s anglophile palate (we ate a lot of lamb or roast beef and potatoes and never ever seafood). Now I discover the custom is universal.

Asparagus on toast is so simple it barely deserves directions. Get the youngest, most tender shoots you can, steam but keep them still crisp and lay in elegant rows on buttered toast. I’m sure Mom always used her homemade bread for the toast, but if you don’t bake bread—and I don’t—a good crusty artisan or sourdough bread works well. For my taste, the key is to use a lot of butter.

Mushrooms offer more possibilities, though I have simply sliced mushrooms, sautéed them in butter, and piled them on good thick toast. Once again you want to have enough liquid (butter primarily) to soften the toast. Mushrooms release liquid as they cooki. Sometimes Mom added a dash of Worcestershire, a pinch of thyme, a bit or garlic, or a splash of wine, either red or white. You could also use Marsala or sherry. And I’ve seen recipes for what sounds to me like creamed mushrooms, where you add crème fraiche at the last minute. Again, the quality of the toast will make a difference, but in my household we’re partial to rye for mushrooms.

The surprise came for me a couple of years ago when I read a recipe for beans on toast. For the bare bones recipe I read you simply cooked your beans and put them on toast. So one day, son Jamie made a pot of pinto beans, seasoned with salt pork, at his Frisco home and drove to Fort Worth with them. We had a delicious lunch, and I though I’d discovered a new dish. Apparently not so. Shortly thereafter, I was to have lunch with a former colleague, and I tried to entice her to the cottage by telling her I’d serve beans on toast. “Beans on toast?” she said. “Isn’t that what we ate as kids? Let’s go out.” Yes, I was deflated.

But beans on toast isn’t exactly one dish. There are decisions to make, such as what toast and, more important, what beans? I never thought of putting baked beans—what I call northern beans—on toast, but apparently, it’s a standard dish. What an irony! For all her British cooking,  Mom never knew about the British trick of putting them on toast.

You can always make your beans from scratch, soaking overnight, seasoning and cooking all day. Or you can hope a can of baked beans. There are several good brands on the market, though I’m partial to Bush (maybe it’s that TV dog). I’ve even come across a suggestion that the Brits like to top off their beans on toast with a couple poached eggs.

So here are two recipes for you:

Best pinto beans ever

Cover a lb. of beans with cold water, add a couple tsp. salt, and soak overnight. In the morning, dice your salt pork and fry it along with a medium onion, diced. Get a nice brown on the salt pork without burning if you can.  Drain and rinse the beans and cover half again with fresh water. Bring to a near-boil and immediately turn down the heat to simmer. Add onion and salt pork to the skillet and—here’s the key—throw in five beef bouillon cubes. I know many of us don’t cook with those cubes anymore, but they’re perfect for this. Let those beans simmer all day until soft.

If you want to jazz up your beans, here’s a suggestion:

2 Tbsp. olive oil

½ lb. crumbed pork sausage (hot or mild, your choice)

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

½ tsp. dried oregano

Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

1 28 oz. can crushed  tomatoes

3 tsp, salt, divided use

5 oz. spinach, coarsely chopped

Those beans you cooked above or the equivalent in canned beans

4 Tbsp. butter

Italian rolls or ciabatta

Grated Parmesan or Pecorino

            Brown sausage in oil in large Dutch oven and crumble. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper. Cook until garlic just begins to turn golden. Add tomatoes, 2-1/2 tsp. salt, and a cup of water. Bring to boil and cook until slightly reduced. Stir in spinach and let it wilt; then add beans. Keep warm.

Make some garlic butter, toast  Italian bread or ciabatta rolls with the butter. To serve, spoon beans over bread and top with cheese.

Makes a good, simple supper.