Tilapia is such a pleasant fish to eat. It takes on the flavours of a marinade really well and and can stand on its own as well.

This is a Thai recipe that went with a Vegetable Stir-Fry and Pineapple Fried Rice. It’s very simple to make, with lots of wonderful flavour.

Unfortunately, I only took a picture of the tilapia waiting for the grill – I forgot to photograph it once it was done!

Marinated tilapia, ready for the grill

I’ve talked about Rick Browne’s book, The Best Barbecue on Earth, quite a few times now. It has many, many recipes I love and want to experiment with.

Belle’s note: This is a very lovely dish, and it’s definitely one I’ll ask for again. The tilapia really absorbs the flavours of the Thai-spiced marinade, but it’s still mild enough that you can pair it with more robust tasting side dishes.

The following recipe is adapted from The Best Barbecue on Earth.

Grilled Koh Samui Tilapia

10 cloves garlic, cut into quarters
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup organic lime juice
2 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp white peppercorns, ground in a mortar and pestle
2 tsp golden brown sugar
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp sea salt
4 tilapia fillets, skinned

1. In a blender combine the garlic, cilantro, olive oil, lime juice, fish sauce, pepper, sugar, coriander and salt and blend until smooth.
2. Place the tilapia in a re-sealable freezer bag. Pour mixture in and mix well without breaking the fillets.
3. Place in the fridge for 1-2 hours.
4. Heat, clean and oil the BBQ grill over medium heat.
5. Drain the tilapia and discard the marinade.
6. Place disposable grilling trays on the BBQ grill or use aluminum foil.
7. Grill the fillets for 4-6 minutes per side.
8. Serve

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Vegetable Pie with Sweet Potato Topping

The Vegetarian Cook’s Bible is a great book. Back before I started cooking, I actually tried being vegetarian for a year; unfortunately, all that meant was I did not eat meat. I was not vegan and I ate cheese like there was no tomorrow. It didn’t help that at the time, I didn’t like many vegetables.

I’m not a vegetarian these days, but I have a great respect for vegetarians, especially vegans. I still will not eat veal, although I am told veal is not raised like it use to be but still … But I just love all foods too much to give up meat and seafood. So I will stay a carnivore for now.

Native people, the traditional ones anyway, make a habit of using the entire animal if it has been killed. They also make an offering before preparing it, to appease the spirit of the animal and to thank the animal for its offering of its body. I believe this to be proper and in my own way I do the same thing.

But in the case of this Vegetable Pie with Sweet Potato Topping, there is no meat involved. It’s vegetarian. Delicious and for meat lovers, it tastes like it has meat. Very substantial.

You start out with roasted vegetables

The sweet potato topping

Belle’s note: This vegetable pie is definitely substantial. It smells great while cooking, and delivers a flavor that’s sweet and very different from a meat pie. The shiitake mushrooms are a great addition, giving a different texture that’s a nice contrast to the softness of the rest of the pie.

The following recipe is adapted from The Vegetarian Cook’s Bible.

Vegetable Pie with Sweet Potato Topping

1 cup boiling water
8 larger dried shiitake mushrooms
3 cups rutabaga, cut into 1″ pieces
3 carrots cut into 1″ pieces
2 parsnips, cut into 1″ pieces
4 tbsp olive oil, divided
3 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ pieces
2 onions, cut into eighths
6 cloves garlic, peeled and quartered
1 leek, washed and cut into 1″ pieces
2 tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped
2 tbsp thyme leaves, picked
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup frozen peas
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup tomato juice, divided
1/2 cup dry red wine

Topping
2 – 19 fl oz cans cut sweet potatoes (get organic if you can)
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup yogurt
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1. Pour boiling water over the dried mushrooms and let sit 20-30 minutes.
2. Reserve 1/2 cup of the soaking liquid.
3. Squeeze dry the mushrooms, remove stems and roughly chop mushrooms
   Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
4. Combine rutabaga, carrots and parsnips with 2 tbsp oil (toss to coat) and bake in a baking dish for 30 minutes.
5. Remove from oven. Add the potatoes, onions, garlic, leek, sage, thyme and 2 tbsp oil, toss to combine.
6. Return to oven and roast for another 45 minutes
7. Reduce oven to 375 degrees F.
8. Prepare topping by heating sweet potatoes, add butter, yogurt, salt and nutmeg. Pureé with immersion blender until smooth.
9. Add mushrooms, broccoli and peas to vegetables. Stir stir and mix.
10. In a small sauce pan, mix cornstarch and 1/4 cup tomato juice. Heat over medium heat and whisk.
11. Whisk in an additional 3/4 cup tomato juice, the red wine and the reserved mushroom juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 6-8 minutes until liquid has thickened.
12. Pour sauce over vegetables.
13. Ladle Sweet potato topping over vegetables and smooth over.
14. Bake for 50 minutes, until vegetable mixture is bubbling under topping. Llet stand 5 minutes before serving

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One of the best parts of this dish is the dish. You hollow out the pineapple and serve the rice inside. It’s a very attractive way to serve it.

Making this reminded me of a curried shrimp dish I made last year that was also served in a pineapple … I will have to dig that recipe out and make it again soon. It was good. And there’s also a French onion soup I’ve made before that’s served in large hollowed out onions, which was also memorable (not the same recipe as The Ultimate Onion Soup, which is still hands down my favourite French onion soup recipe).

But on to the Pineapple Fried Rice. This is one of Thailand’s signature dishes, and for good reason. My oldest son, who does not like rice, ate two helpings at dinner the night I made it, and then had it for breakfast the next day too! And up until then, I didn’t even know he liked pineapples.

Give this a try even if you don’t want to go to the trouble of hollowing out the pineapple. The recipe here does give you lots of leftovers, but in our family that’s a requirement. Everyone likes leftovers for late night snacks and breakfast. Since my wife is Asian, she’s used to savory breakfasts. We are definitely not toast and cereal people!

Feel free to reduce the quantity of rice, but I’m sure if your family likes rice, the leftovers will not last long.

Belle’s note: This rice was so delicious! I know Ward was surprised that our son had so many helpings, since he doesn’t really like rice, but what surprised me was that Ward himself enjoyed this dish so much – he doesn’t like pineapples. I think this dish might have changed his perspective on pineapples somewhat.

The following recipe is adapted from The Best Barbecue on Earth, by Rick Browne.

Pineapple Fried Rice

1 whole pineapple
4 tbsp peanut oil
4 cups cooked rice (I use a rice cooker: so fast and easy)
3 shallots, sliced thinly
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
3 tbsp water
3 tbsp organic vegetable stock
1 free-range egg
2-1/2 tbsp fish sauce
3 tsp Thai curry powder
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 medium size carrot, grated
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
5 scallions, finely chopped for garnish
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped for garnish

1. Slice off the top quarter of the pineapple, leaving the top intact.
2. Using a melon ball or tablespoon, begin scooping out the pineapple to a bowl (don’t keep the hard center core).
3. Place plastic wrap over pineapple bottom and top and place in fridge until ready to serve.
4. Cut the pineapple flesh into bite size pieces. You will need about 1-1/2 cups to 2 cups. The quantity of pineapple pieces you have will vary based on the size of your pineapple.
5. Reserve the rest of the pineapple pieces for something else.
6. Put a wok on high heat and add oil. When the oil is hot, add the shallots, garlic and chili, and stir-fry 3 minutes.
7. Add the water and stock, then stir. Add the egg and stir it into the rice quickly.
8. Add the fish sauce, curry powder, peas and carrot, and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
9. Add the rice and pineapple and mix well. Cook for about 3 more minutes.
10. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
11. Fill the pineapple shell with the rice. There will be a lot left over, which you can save for the next day’s breakfast or lunch, or for a late night snack.
12. Garnish with scallions and cilantro

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I made this Mexican rice to go along with the Roasted Pork Tenderloin and Holy Mole Sauce as the author of The Wine Lover’s Cookbook suggests, and wow! It’s a very nice rice.

I really enjoyed this one and so did the whole family (okay, so maybe not our little one, Dylan, because “It has flavours in it!”. Maybe one day I will get him to try some of my cooking other than the homemade pasta.)

Simmering on stove top

I used free-range chicken stock this time, but for a vegetarian version, just substitute a flavourful vegetable stock.

Belle’s note: I have a fondness for Mexican rice, and this one is very tasty. It went very well with the Roasted Pork Tenderloin and Holy Mole Sauce, and because it has the feta cheese in it, it’s really substantial enough as a light entree for lunch all on its own.

The following recipe is adapted from The Wine Lover’s Cookbook.

Mexican Rice

1-1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp shallots, finely chopped
1 cup onions chopped
2 cups basmati rice
2-1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp fennel seeds, toasted
3 cups free-range chicken stock
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
8 oz feta cheese with tomato and basil, crumbled
2 large cubanelle peppers, seeded and chopped
cilantro leaves, chopped for garnish

1. Heat butter and oil in a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat.
2. Add shallots and onions and sauté for 4-5 minutes.
3. Add rice, cumin, oregano and the fennel seeds and sauté for an additional 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Add the stock and tomatoes, bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for 10-12 minutes (or until most of the liquid is absorbed into the rice).
5. Add the peppers and feta cheese, stirring it in. Cover and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes.
6. Take the rice off the heat but allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
7. Fluff with fork just before serving.

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This is a wonderful dish – the aroma that fills the kitchen, and even the house, while you are browning the pork and roasting it is enough to make my vegetarian daughter to say “What smells so good?!?”.

I love Mexican food, real Mexican food. Tex-Mex is okay, too, but the real thing… that is truly mouth watering. I have had trouble finding some of the ingredients but plan on visiting some specialty shops in Toronto, where I am sure I will be able to find everything.

This is recipe is adapted from one of my favourite cookbooks. The Wine Lover’s Cookbook has wonderful recipes, all paired with wines and that, in my book, makes them all winners. If you like Italian food, The Wine Lover Cooks Italian is also fantastic.

I also made a Mexican Rice, from the same book, to go with this and it worked perfectly.

Belle notes: Pork isn’t one of my favourite dishes, but this was an excellent entrée. The mole sauce was fabulous, with a rich, dark, almost smoky chocolate taste, and the pork itself was very tender and succulent. Definitely a winning recipe in my books!

Roast Pork with Holy Mole Sauce

2 pork loins, rolled and tied
kosher salt
crushed black peppercorns (mortar and pestle)
ground cinnamon
ground cumin
dried oregano
ground sage
3 tbsp olive oil

Mole
1-1/2 cups onions, sliced
1-1/2 tbsp garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
3/4 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and crushed (mortar and pestle)
1-1/2 tbsp dried red chili, seeded
1 tbsp chipotle chili in adobo, chopped
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
3-1/2 cups free-range chicken stock
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
4-1/2 tbsp tomato paste
2-1/4 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 tbsp organic lime juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

The original recipe calls for 1/2 tsp of this and 1/4 tsp of that, but I just pulled out the spice bottles, used the shaker opening and shook some on the pork with one hand, rubbed it in with the other hand, flipped over and repeated. Went to the next spice and repeated until done. I did not measure anything. Sorry. It just seemed like too much fun to just wing it and shake some on and rub it in. If there was too much, it would fall off anyway.

Pork Roast

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
2. Rub the pork loin on all sides with the salt, crushed black pepper, cinnamon, cumin, oregano, sage.
3. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
4. Sear and brown all sides and ends of the pork loins (to brown the ends use a pair of tongs to hold the pork upright).
5. Transfer the pork to a baking dish and reserve the pan and cooking oil for the mole sauce.
6. Roast the pork for 1 1/2 hours (internal temperature of 165 degrees F).
7. Remove the pork and let rest.

Mole

1. Using the same pan the pork was seared in, sauté the onion and garlic over medium heat 5-6 minutes.
2. Add the cinnamon, cloves, coriander, chili, chipotle and cilantro and cook for another 4 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Pour into a blender and pulse a few times (place a folded up dish towel over the top of the blender and hold down tight to prevent the hot liquid from coming out).
5. Add the peanut butter, tomato paste, chocolate and lime juice to the blender mixture and blend until smooth, again with the dish towel on top.
6. Pour the mixture back into the sauce pan and simmer, covered, for 35 – 40 minutes. If the sauce gets too thick you can thin with additional stock.
7. Season to taste.

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Four Spice and Ginger Cake

I have to get together with some of the people who visit this blog, namely the bakers. I really need to focus more on learning the finer point, or really, the basics of baking.

I was reading Megan’s blog, My Baking Adventures, and she has a list of things to learn. I’m going to do this too. I love the idea of baking bread, all sorts of breads and cakes and pies  but so far… well, let’s just say people have been very , very kind to me about my baking! The taste is there, I think, but it’s the presentation that is sadly lacking. The finesse. The artistry.

This Four Spice and Ginger Cake is from a Creole cookbook and as simple as it sounded, I goofed. Luckily, it turned out to be quite tasty, but definitely not because I followed the directions!

The Batter, Ready to be Baked

The recipe calls for the cake to be baked for 45 minutes and at that point my cake was still liquid inside. Even after a good hour of sitting on a rack, it was still liquidy. I put it back into the oven and increased the heat to 350 degrees F. Thirty minutes later, it was still wobbly – it needed about another 20 minutes for perfection. Altogether, I’m not really sure of my "real" total baking time but it was a lot more then the original 45 minutes, and at least a portion of that time was at the higher 350 degrees F.

Finally – done!

Where did I go wrong? Maybe my oven is going. That would explain why my baking is hit and miss. I think I’m going to have to test the temperature to see.

I loved the cake just the way it was, nice and gingery and peppery. Belle isn’t a big fan of ginger, but she enjoyed the cake, too. She spread creamed cheese on top and loved it. Dylan said,"Where is the frosting, Daddy?". Not that he would have eaten it anyway. Although to be fair he did lick a piece to try it.

Belle’s note: Despite Ward’s problems with the baking time and oven temperature, this Four Spice and Ginger Cake was very delicious. Not too sweet, with just the right touch of rich spiciness, each slice was moist and incredibly good. It really called out for a cream cheese frosting of some sort, but I got around that by spreading the slices I had with plain spreadable cream cheese – delicious! As an added bonus, the occasional bite offered up the sweet spice of the candied ginger – as Ward says, I’m not a big fan of ginger, but this was quite the perfect touch!

The following recipe is adapted from Creole, by Babette de Rozières.

Four Spice and Ginger Cake

8 large free-range eggs
1 cup sugar
pinch fine sea salt
1 cup butter, softened and cut up into 1/2" cubes
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
200g (approx. 1 cup) crystallized ginger (candied), chopped
3 tbsp quatre épices*

*quatre épices (four spices)

Mix together:

1 tbsp white peppercorns, ground in mortar and pestle
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp ground cloves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. In a large bowl, break the eggs and add the sugar and salt.
3. Mix with an electric hand mixer at low speed until fluffy.
4. Add the butter, vanilla and mix.
5. Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and quatre épices. Mix well. 
6. Spray a cake pan with vegetable non-stick spray.
7. Pour the mixture into the cake pan and bake for 45-60 minutes.
8. Check to see if a toothpick comes out dry, if not, bake for an additional 15 minutes and check again. Repeat this until done.  

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Quinoa is a wonder food. It’s high in everything good and has no bad qualities. What’s even better, I really like it – it tastes great.

It’s as easy as rice to make (well, I use a rice cooker so rice is way too easy to make, but this is almost as easy). Did I mention, quinoa has all the added benefits of being really good for you?

Let me say that I was never a salad person. I liked leafy green vegetables, but I never really liked the dressing part of the deal. In the past, if a meal came with a salad at a restaurant, I would always order it “Just the way God made it” – no dressing! I got some strange looks, and, I realize now, for good reason. I wasn’t into cooking back then and didn’t understand at all how dressings actually enhance the flavour of the salad and bring out the different nuances in the food. I know better now. The choice of dressing can actually change your whole experience of the salad.

Now, time to be honest. When I made this Quinoa Salad, I made the oil, vinegar, pepper and salt vinaigrette and put it in a bowl beside the salad. After dinner I asked myself “What is this bowl of liquid doing here?” It was the dressing. I’d forgotten to mix it into the salad!

I mentioned to Belle a day later that I had omitted the dressing and she couldn’t believe it. She loved the salad as it was and didn’t think it tasted like anything was missing. So there you go – if you like the sound of this salad, perhaps you could try it with the dressing and then try it without and see which you like better. Please let me know, too! I do plan on trying this again, with the dressing mixed in next time, but it would be nice to hear from others about their experiences with this salad.

Belle notes: I really was surprised when Ward told me he’d forgotten to add the dressing to this salad. I really enjoyed it – quinoa has a slightly nutty flavour that’s just so good, and the addition of the feta cheese really enhanced the dish. An added benefit? With every bite I kept thinking, “And quinoa is such a healthy food!”

Quinoa Salad
Adapted from The New Steak

1 cup organic quinoa
2 cups water
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 cups baby arugula leaves
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp fresh mint leaves, chopped
1 tbsp fresh oregano leaves, chopped
1 tbsp fresh parsley leaves, chopped
4 radishes, sliced thin
5 scallions, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp white vinegar
freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt
8 oz feta cheese (with tomato and basil), crumbled

1. In a medium pot add water, quinoa and salt and bring to a boil over medium heat with a lid on.
2. Stir and simmer with lid on for 15-20 minutes.
3. Let cool when done.
4. Combine the baby arugula, tomatoes, mint, oregano, parsley, radishes and scallions in a salad bowl.
5. Mix the olive oil, vinegar, pepper and salt in a small bowl and toss the salad with it.
6. Place the salad on the plate and add the feta and quinoa on top.

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One of my favourite grocery stores is T.Phat, a small chain store in Ontario which caters to the Asian, Jamaican, Mexican, Filipino, Indian and Western markets. I always have a fantastic time when I shop there. I wander each and every aisle thinking, What can I make with that? and What is that? Just fantastic!

I discovered chayote squash a little over a year ago and just love it. It is a cross between a pear and an apple but as the recipes say, cooks more like a squash. You can also just cut it and eat it raw.

Jicama is another little gem I discovered at T.Phat. There is just so much out there in the world of food and not enough days to cook them all. I have to be patient!

Belle loved this dish. As for me, I would have liked a lot more cayenne – I’d suggest you add the cayenne to your taste. Still, it was delicious.

Belle notes: I’ve fallen in love with chayote. It’s wonderful raw in a salad, lending a delightful taste of pear but without pear’s mushiness. Eaten raw, it’s crisp and refreshing. Roasted, as in this recipe, it’s incredibly good, with a slight sweetness and just enough firmness. This is now my favourite roasted veg!

Roasted Chayote Squash
Adapted from The New Steak

2 chayote squash, cut into 8 pieces (just like you would cut up an apple)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp kosher salt
pinch of cayenne pepper (Adjust according to your taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Toss the chayote pieces in olive oil to coat, then sprinkle with salt and cayenne pepper. Place chayote on a rimmed baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes. Flip the chayote pieces over and roast for an additional 15 minutes.

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It was just Belle and I for dinner the other night, and she asked for steak. We had some striploin in the freezer and lots of recipes in our collection of cookbooks.

Belle opted for this Latin-style steak and it was great. Belle loves her steak rare and I am more of a medium-rare steak eater, but somehow, following the cooking times in the recipe, we ended up with more medium-well then rare.

Luckily, this didn’t effect the flavour. We were both very surprised that the steak tasted so good, even though it was technically over-cooked by our standards. I did this on the stove top instead of the barbeque, which might have been a mistake. I am usually more attentive to steaks if they are over flames rather then in a pan. It might also have been because of the thickness of the steak, but I’ll definitely watch the cooking time more closely in the future.

We had roasted chayote with this, and that was really delicious, too. It would be great just as a snack during the day or late at night. It’s so simple and you can experiment with all sorts of seasonings on them – I’ll post the chayote recipe tomorrow!

Belle’s note: I was a little disappointed when we sat down to dinner and I saw that the striploin was quite well-done. But surprisingly, it had retained its tenderness, and the tequila-avocado sauce was just so lovely with it! Until Ward started cooking, I was never one to see the benefits of having a sauce for my steak, but now he’s definitely sold me on it.

Strip Steak with Tequila-Avocado Sauce
Adapted from The New Steak

2 striploin steaks
2 tsp kosher salt
olive oil
2 tbsp peanut oil
freshly ground black pepper

Tequila-Avocado Sauce
4 tomatillos (about 1/3 cup) I use canned tomatillos so no peeling or cooking is required – just core them
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1/3 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
1/2 Hass avocado
3 tbsp organic lime juice
2 tbsp tequila

Steaks and Sauce

1. Bring steaks to room temperature.
2. Place all the ingredients for the sauce in a food processor and blend until smooth.
3. Pour into a small pot and set aside until steaks are done.
4. Salt the steaks and rub with olive oil.
5. Heat the peanut oil in a pan until hot.
6. Sear all sides of each steak in the hot oil for about 1-1/2 minutes each side.
7. Turn the heat down to medium and continue to cook the steaks for 6 minutes, turning every couple of minutes. (This resulted in a medium-well steak. Next time I do this, I will change this to 2 minutes per side for a rarer steak, or use a thicker cut.)
8. Rest the steaks. Any juices that are released you can add to the sauce.
9. Put the sauce into a small pot and heat over high heat for 3 minutes to slightly reduce.
10. Plate the steaks and add some sauce to each one.

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This fava bean stew is a wonderful vegetarian bean stew. We orginally found a recipe for a fava bean stew from Cyprus in an issue of Saveur last year, and we both loved it.

It takes 2-1/2 hours to cook so you do have to plan ahead. The original recipe called soaking dried beans overnight but the first time I made this, Belle had seen the recipe one morning while she was looking through Saveur, and she wanted to try it that night. So I opted for canned beans and it was delicious. I should try this one day with the dried beans just for comparison.

The canned fava beans I bought this time were huge – about an inch long each! This wasn’t what we used last time. Then I remembered that faba beans is another name for this species of beans. I picked up 2 cans of faba beans and used these instead of fava beans.

Belle’s note: The first time Ward made this, I couldn’t believe it was meatless! It’s incredibly savory and delicious, and very filling – make sure you have some nice fresh Italian or French bread on hand to tear into chunks and sop up the sauce. Like all stews, it’s even better the next day.

Koukkiá Koúnnes (Fava Bean Stew with Garlic, Thyme and Bay Leaves)
Adapted from Saveur Magazine

2-19oz cans fava (or faba) beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and quartered
small handful of thyme sprigs, tied together with kitchen twine
3 fresh bay leaves
2 medium onions, chopped coarsely
5 cups organic vegetable stock
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tbsp fresh organic lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
Country style bread, sliced or roughly torn

1. Heat oil in a large pot (4 qt) over medium heat.
2. Add onions, garlic, thyme and bay leaves. Cook until soft and browned (about 15 minutes).
3. Add the fava beans and the stock. Bring to a boil and reduce to medium-low. Partially cover and cook until the beans are tender and stew is thickened (about 2-1/2 hours).
4. Season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
5. Pour into serving bowl and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, and serve with crusty bread.

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