Another White Bean Dip and More Lessons Learned

With a small party coming up, some leftover dried cannelini beans in the cupboard, and lots of fresh herbs in the fridge, I naturally decided to make a white bean dip a few weekends ago.  Instead of defaulting to the white bean dip recipes I have relied on this past though, including the Giada de Laurentiis version and the Cook's Illustrated rosemary white bean spread, I decided to try to find a new version that would make use of those plentiful herbs – fresh cilantro, parsley, chives, thyme AND rosemary – in my fridge.  

I found the David Lebovitz version online, and both the ease and flexibility of the recipe appealed to me.  However, in loosely following the recipe instructions, I failed to heed the first, and most important, piece of advice Lebovitz had for his readers – use good beans!  The leftover cannelini beans in my cupboard have been there for…I don't remember how long.  That should have been sign number one to go buy some fresh beans.  Sign number two was when the beans took at least 3 – 4 hours to cook, and still didn't have the right consistency. 

"Oh well," I thought to myself as I drained the beans and added them to the food processor with parsley, chives, rosemary and other accompaniments.  I also added 1/4 – 1/2 cup of the bean cooking liquid to the food processor without first trying to process the beans a bit to see how much liquid the dip would need for a good, dipping consistency.  Sign number three I had a problem was when after giving the ingredients a whirl in the processor, it was clear the dip was too watery.  

Throwing caution to the wind, I decided to still serve the bean dish with store-bought pita chips.  The dip was actually pretty tasty in terms of flavor, but the texture was too watery for my preference and the beans didn't quite taste right, even pureed.  My guests also enjoyed the dip flavor, and somehow didn't seem to mind the texture issues that I had with the dish, which I guess could be considered an inadvertent success?

I have learned my lesson though – use good beans and puree the beans first before adding more liquid!