gigantes

[kalliopi]

I love gigantes and tried to make them twice many years ago, both times unsuccessfully, one time my mother arrived and asked me what the smell of glue was.

I was talking to the couple in the next apartment to us in Halki and she told me that it was because the beans used were different to our dried butter beans. With that in mind, I brought home a packet of dried gigantes from one of the supermarkets in Halki. I am wanting to know if anyone has a good tried & tested recipe for gigantes.

[Di]

It's quicker and easier to buy them in the tin from Tesco Our branch sells the same ones you get in the supermarkets in Greece.

[Liz]

I've tried to make them a few times but cant get the herb mix right - but Di is right , Tesco do them in a tin the same as you buy in Halki...every little helps lol ;D

[Kinygos]

www.greek-recipe.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article100

[kalliopi]

Thanks guys I didn't even know you could buy them in tins in Greece let alone Tesco, next time I am in I will look for a tin to put away for a quick meal one day.

There are lots & lots of recipes on the net purporting to be original Greek ones, I was just hoping that someone had a tried & tested one they could recommend.

I have had a look at the recipe you posted kinygos, it has been rated quite highly so I may as well try that one as any other. I will let you know how I get on, but it might be a week or so before I make it.

[Di]

Jul 15, 2011 18:07:35 GMT kalliopi said:

Thanks guys I didn't even know you could buy them in tins in Greece let alone Tesco,

Where do you think the ones in some of the taverna's come from

[Kinygos]

I did do this once, but without a recipe, the result was fine. The key points are.
Put cooked beans into a cooked sauce and finish them together. Do not try to cook beans in the sauce. Most beans need to be soaked overnight and a good boil to destroy toxins. Canned butterbeans, if they exist, would bypass this.

I am not sure that there is a standard herb mix. Certainly there is an umbelliferous herb in the ones on Halki, but I was never sure if it was parsley or celery, or indeed chervil. I am not sure about origano and thyme, which can be a bit thuggish; particularly the latter. To be used with great care!

Never forget that a lot of the stuff you eat on Halki probably comes out of a can or carton anyway; gigantes, taramasalata, tsatziki!!

[kalliopi]

Kinygos you may have hit the nail on the head. I did soak the beans, but if I remember correctly, I then put them in the sauce in the oven, perhaps this was the cause of the 'glue' effect. It was from a Greek cookery book. I will not cook the beans in the sauce this time, thanks ;D

[kalliopi]

The Gigantes were huge success (if you will pardon the pun) ;D No hard beans with a glue smell today.

I used the recipe linked to by Kinygos with some minor alterations, the recipe said 1 kilo of tomatoes fresh or tinned, I added two 400gm tins and after looking at it added a third. As I have Greek oregano & fresh thyme on the window sill I was not using dried ones, so substituted the fresh ones. I just made it in a pan on the hob, but cooked it for a lot longer than the 15 mins suggested. It was very, very good but next time I will miss out the sugar and add a tad more garlic.

[Liz]

What did you have them with ??

[Kinygos]

A DVD of gone with the wind?

[kalliopi]

Kinygos what are you implying?

Liz we had them with Greek salad. When I met him Red Rose Exile didn't consider it a proper meal if it didn't have meat in it but he thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Liz]

;D ;D
My OH is a bit like that

I might try them tomorrow