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Help - Runner Beans
Nette67
Posts: 5
in Fruit & veg
Hi,
After begrudgingly throwing many of my runner beans on the compost because my mother-in-law said they were no good to eat, they were too long & fat - some were stringy and hard to be fair - I've just read Alys Fowlers peice about taking the seed beans out of the pods and using for casseroles etc.
I am a complete novice so please bear with me... how do I dry / use / store the beans to eat later. If anyone can help I would be most grateful.
In muppet form please .
Thanks!
0
Posts
I've never heard of doing this before, when the pods get too tough we usually just take the seeds out and boil them like broad beans to eat. This year I'm growing borlotti beans which apparently can be dried and stored in jars.
Easy, just leave the beans on the plant until they go brown and dry (if the weather doesn't get horribly wet for a long period), then remove the dry pods from the plant and take the beans out.
If the weather gets wet but the beans are nice and yellow, you can dry them in a dry place like a shed or so.
Make sure they are absolutely bone dry before storing.
Absolutely delicious in all sorts of dishes!
Or you can use them as seed for next year!
You may find that your plants stop producing new beans though once you stop picking the beans.
Thank you both for that,
I'd already picked some of the beans off the vine as I was going to blanch & freeze and hope for the best! Then I read Alys's article:-
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/aug/28/alys-fowler-runner-beans
As they had been a bit stringy, I have shelled the beans as I would peas, if I put them in a dry place on a tray with they dry out? How will I know when they're dry ?
Thanks for your time with this, these may seem silly questions to you both so sorry.
Thanks Welshonion,
As said above I have shelled them like I would peas... can I just pop them in the freezer?
If yes do I need to blanch them first?
Hi Nettle67,
I've never put them in the freezer, so I'not sure if you'd be off better blanching them or just freezing them as they are.
I'm not sure if trying to dry beans after you've shelled them will work.
For the drying method to work, you'd have to dry them really thoroughly until they get really hard and dry and it will only work properly if the beans inside the pods are fully grown, otherwise you'll end up with little more than the outer skins of the beans.
Dried beans should look and feel the same as the dried beans and peas you can buy in bags in the shops.
I hope you'll be able to find a good way to keep them, and that they'll make a tasty ingrediënt for a lovely winter dish.
You could always make a batch of Sheppard’s pie including the beans and freeze them adding the potato topping just before eating.
If you dry the beans they need to be cooked as you would dried shop bought ones, soak in cold water, rinse and then boil for 45 - 60 mins to destroy toxins, raw red kidney beans will make you very ill. I don't know about freezing fresh and then cooking.
I have grown White Lady runner beans this year and they are fantastic. It is a prolific cropper, very tasty, and you can let them get long and plump as there is no 'string' at all. I slice my runners then portion them into plastic food bag which are then placed in the freezer. I used to blanch them but now find that this is not required, the defrosted beans cook up just like fresh ones. I also treat the 'Hunter' and 'Coss Violette' French beans the same way, both of which are also prolific croppers. Very pleased, to say the least.