Don't Sweat the Aubergine

other writers would have predicted, were cooked; but they had different textures. The salted beans had a mealy texture, while the unsalted ones were creamy.
    So, here’s a synthesis of all this advice.
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HOW TO COOK DRIED BEANS
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    100g is a substantial portion for each person. Soak the beans – it makes a worthwhile difference to the cooking time – in filtered or bottled water overnight. (If your water is soft, tap water may be fine.) Drain and rinse the beans; cover by about 4cm with fresh water (filtered if you like). Bring to the boil, and skim the white scum – it comes from the protein albumen, as does the scum on a meat stock. Turn down the heat and simmer, covered or, if the liquid is in danger of boiling over, with the lid of the pan leaving a small gap. To give flavour to the cooking liquid, add a peeled, halved onion and a couple of unpeeled garlic cloves.
    If you’re cooking red kidney beans, follow the above procedure, but boil them at full blast for 10 minutes before turning down the heat to simmering point.
    It’s impossible to predict cooking times. I cooked the haricot beans on which I carried out the salting experiment (see above) in an hour, but I have known various types of dried beans take 3 or more.
    Towards the end of the cooking time, uncover the pan to allow the liquid to reduce so that the beans are just submerged. It can moisten the beans you’re going to serve, or form a stock for a soup. If you’re keeping the beans for a day or two, store them in their cooking liquid.
    For an accompaniment to sausages or other grills/fries (for 4): chop a clove of garlic, and soften it in 1 tbsp oil. Add 1 dstsp tomato paste and a little cooking liquid from the beans; cook this mixture for a minute or so. (Tomato paste can have a slightly metallic taste, which cooking mellows.) Add the beans and enough of their cooking liquid to get the consistency you want: moist but not soupy, I suggest. Simmer for 10 minutes, checking the saltiness and adding pepper if you like. You can serve the beans hot or at room temperature.
    For cassoulet, see here . You could also add drained beans as a garnish to beef, lamb or pork stew ( see here and here ).
    If all this is too much fuss, buy tins. They’re not bad. The liquid may be very salty, though.
Broccoli
    While it is easy to find broccoli, it is not easy to find it in a bright green, firm condition. Inferior broccoli, with its tendency to become waterlogged when cooked, has the pungent, rank odour and flavour that have alienated so many victims of institutional cooking from other members of the cabbage family.
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HOW TO COOK IT
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    It’s not my experience that you have to cook broccoli in boiling water to retain its bright colour. Cut off the florets and put them in a steamer above boiling water; start to test them with the point of a knife after 3 minutes. Remove the florets when tender, and, if you like, turn them carefully in butter or oil; season.
    As do other green vegetables, broccoli goes well with anchovy. For 4 people, warm a little olive oil in a pan, throw in half a clove of finely chopped garlic, let it soften for a minute, and stir in a small tin of anchovies, drained of their oil. You could add some minced fresh or dried chillies too. Keep stirring; the anchovies will melt. Turn the steamed broccoli in this mixture. It makes a very good sauce for pasta. Add a small pot of cream if you like, bubbling it for a minute or so until it thickens.
    The flavour of a whole tin of anchovies will be quite assertive. You may like to use fewer. Just one will add savouriness (umami) to the dish.
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VARIATIONS
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    Purple sprouting broccoli, available in the spring and early summer, is finer tasting than the widely available green (calabrese) variety. Because it is more slender, you can cook it with no water, or very little. Try on it the Ehrlich method of cooking asparagus ( see here ); but use a little more oil, and don’t bother about getting the florets into a single layer. After a minute, take the lid off, give the florets a gentle stir, and add seasoning. Put the lid back on, and steam until tender.
    Or you can stir-fry. Heat a wok or heavy frying pan; add some oil, swirl it around, and throw in the broccoli. (See Stir-fry, here .) Keep it moving, and turn down the heat if there’s a danger of smoke and scorching. When it’s nearly ready, you could throw in chopped garlic, and/or chilli, and/or ginger. And/or some oyster/soy/chilli