Broad beans

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Broad beans
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tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45676
Location: Essex

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 7:56 pm Post subject:
The only broad beans I like are the spanish habas fritas but they're crisps really.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 8:17 pm Post subject:

jema wrote:

Awful things broad beans, bitter, horrible texture

and I'm talking both home grown and frozen.

Anyone want to post a recipe to convert me?

Wrong, wrong, wrong, you've obviously been eating them picked too late. The beans need to be small and fresh. After podding them blanch them for a minute or two, then refresh in cold water. If the beans are thumbnail-sized or bigger slip off the outer skins. Gently fry some pancetta or decent streaky bacon, until it has given up its fat and is turning crispy, then heat the beans through with it.

Bugs

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 8:22 pm Post subject:

Sarah D wrote:

They appreciate a rich soil, that is moisture retentive.

I've definitely got some spare broad beans then, if anyone is interested!

Thanks all for the advice. It looks like it's worth the trouble in the future but probably not this year with all the other interesting things we have to try.

For the record though, the couple of tablespoons full that we've harvested have definitely tasted nice. The skins do need to come off but don't tend to have a bad taste, just too chewy. Those I've seen in supermarkets look far too big to have been worth picking and I suspect that like peas and fresh beans, if you can't get them from the garden to the pan in a few minutes you are better off with properly processed frozen ones. I think.

gavin

Joined: 10 Feb 2005
Posts: 93
Location: Leeds, W Yorks

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 8:40 pm Post subject:

You did ask, Jema

- cooked for me years ago by an Iranian friend. Good enough to write down and still be using!

Rice with Lamb, Broad Beans and Dill
1.5 kg shoulder chops of lamb - nice and thick
1/2 cup ghee or butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric
3 cups basmati rice
2 cups fresh shelled broad beans
3/4 cup chopped dill

Brown the lamb chops in 1 tbsp of the ghee, and remove to a plate. Add another 1 tbsp of fat, and fry onion gently until transparent; add tumeric and cook another 2 minutes. Add 1 cup water, salt, pepper, and return lamb to pan. Cover and simmer gently for an hour, until lamb is very tender.

Bring 8 cups water to the boil in a large pot. Add salt and well-washed rice, bring back to the boil and cook for 5-7 minutes. Drain immediately.

Swirl some of the ghee (melted) round a suitable large casserole dish, and lay half of plain rice in a layer on the bottom. Now make a layer of the cooked lamb and add its juices.

Mix the broad beans and dill with the rest of the rice, and layer over the lamb. Pour half of remaining ghee over top. Cover and cook until beans are tender (30 minutes?), just tender - and not overcooked.

The other thing I love doing is to cut the broad bean plants and hang them in bunches to dry; when the pods are black and "popping", shell andstore the beans. Great for lots of Middle Eastern Ful recipes - good, solid, "meaty" taste. Go on - have a go!

All best - Gavin

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45676
Location: Essex

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 9:06 pm Post subject:

sean wrote:

Gently fry some pancetta or decent streaky bacon, until it has given up its fat and is turning crispy, then heat the beans through with it.

Fat lot of good to me

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45676
Location: Essex

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 9:07 pm Post subject:
That sounds good Gavin, lot of dill though isn't it?

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 9:08 pm Post subject:
I believe you can eat the whole pod on very young beans. Anyone tried this? I also like the flowers and the fileds of BBs that you often get smell very sweet in the early summer.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 05 9:11 pm Post subject:

tahir wrote:

sean wrote:

Gently fry some pancetta or decent streaky bacon, until it has given up its fat and is turning crispy, then heat the beans through with it.

Fat lot of good to me

You can just use butter, they're nice like that too.

Sarah D

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 2584

Posted: Tue Feb 22, 05 8:41 am Post subject:

Very young beans in their pods are nice - bit like beany sugar snap peas. Older ones make very good soup, and also a good wine. You can grow them in pots and boxes to get better soil conditions, just make sur they have support eg sticks and string, if you are determined. One of the best crops to have the first ones of, in my opinion. If you can get hold of the crimson flwoered ones, theya re pretty spectacular in flower - HDRA do them, and a few other places now. If you do get them as far as the flowering stage, I recommend smelling the flower - any ornamental would be hard pushed to beat the scent of a broad bean flower.

Guest

Posted: Tue Feb 22, 05 8:42 am Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

I believe you can eat the whole pod on very young beans. Anyone tried this?

.

Yes, I don't like broad beans as they get bigger, but the whole pod, picked at the stage of infanticide and steamed, lovely.

Tristan

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Tue Feb 22, 05 9:34 am Post subject:
My kids when I mentioned it was time to plant the broad beans again just looked at me as if to say "oh no not again" - We had such a massive crop of them last year that at one point we were having broad beans with every meal - think I may still have some in the freezer To be honest I really enjoy them - grew Green and Scarlet ones last year - the flavour in the green was probably better JOanne

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Tue Feb 22, 05 9:58 am Post subject:

On Malta, they dry the broad beans, and then use them to make a spicy bean paste called bigilla - lots of chilli, garlic, parsley, a bit of mint, lemon juice and olive oil. It is quite delicious, can be served hot or cold, or even fried like falafel. Needless to say, my attempt to reproduce it with the dried broad beans I brought home with me was rather disappointing.

Another nice way to cook baby broad beans is to braise them very gently with an equal quantity of freshly podded peas on a bed of lettuce. You only put a very tiny amount of water and a good knob of butter in the pan, bring it up to the merest simmer and then clamp the lid on firmly and braise for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve with some chopped mint and ground pepper.

Marigold123

Joined: 06 Feb 2005
Posts: 224

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 05 12:40 am Post subject:

I love broad beans, particularly young ones, even though I never even tasted them until about 10 years ago!

I only grew the once, but a whole load of ants came and planted aphids all over all the plants while they were flowering - I watched them do it. And then it appears that they cut off the stamens and took the pollen away with them. I had hardly any beans.

Has this happened to anyone else? I was so gobsmacked when I watched them doing this, I couldn't believe it was happening. They just marched right in and there was very little I could do. I know ants plant aphids, as well as just milk them and defend them, (the ladybirds did NOT want to know), but I'd never seen them cutting stamens before.

Bugs

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

Posted: Fri Feb 25, 05 1:50 pm Post subject:
Well, cheers for the advice everyone - I've decided to give them a miss this year as I found a good home for the spare seed on the RC seed swap (although we've kept 10 beans to grow in the flower beds - I do like the scent, too, and the flowers are very pretty themselves). I will give them a go in the future though, and will make sure to give them a bit more TLC with the compost etc!

moggins

Joined: 24 Feb 2005
Posts: 942
Location: Gloucester

Posted: Fri Feb 25, 05 7:41 pm Post subject:
My ex swears by loading the bean trench with old newspapers before putting the manure/compost/soil in. He always ends up with the longest beans I have ever seen and they taste great too, which is a surprise as I don't usually like them.

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