Beans, Chard and Burnt Butter
Serves 4·1 h 40 min·20 min hands-on
A pot of beans that gets its depth from browning the butter properly rather than from stock, which most versions of this lean on and which is why most versions taste like soup.
Method
Drain the beans, cover with cold water by 5 cm, add the onion and bay, bring to a bare simmer and hold it there for 70 to 90 minutes. Do not salt yet.
When a bean crushes easily against the roof of your mouth, salt the water heavily and let them sit off the heat for 20 minutes. This is the step tinned beans skip, and it is where the seasoning gets inside them rather than sitting on the outside.
TimingThe beans can sit in their liquid for a day at this point and will be better for it.
Melt the butter in a wide pan over medium heat and keep going past the foaming stage until the solids are the colour of a hazelnut, about 4 minutes. Add the anchovy and garlic off the heat; they will cook in the residual warmth.
Add the chard stems with a splash of bean liquid, cook 5 minutes, then the leaves for 2 minutes more.
Fold the beans through with enough of their liquid to make it loose. Lemon zest, then juice, then salt again. Serve warm rather than hot.
If it splitsAdd a spoon of cold bean liquid and shake the pan; it will come back together.