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Post by brownrexx on Jan 21, 2018 14:46:02 GMT -5
A couple of years ago I became fascinated by the colors and shapes of dry beans and I selected beans for their colors because I wanted to make packets of dry beans for Christmas gifts. I included a recipe on the back and I think that they turned out really pretty.
Then I discovered that most beans turned brown with cooking so now I am not as hung up on the colors but I still like growing dry beans and I usually grow several different varieties.
This is what I grew that first year for the gifts:
DSC00504 by Brownrexx, on Flickr
DSC00621 by Brownrexx, on Flickr
Now I am getting interested in different ways of cooking dry beans besides making soup.
Here is my bean harvest from 2017 and it includes 2 varieties of black beans. One is called Puerto Rico black beans because it is an unnamed variety that I picked up in Puerto Rico and it produces really nice black beans with purple flowers. They are slightly bigger beans than Black Turtle beans which have white flowers.
DSC02073 by Brownrexx, on Flickr
What beans are your growing for drying?
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Post by Hensaplenty on Jan 21, 2018 14:53:10 GMT -5
Those are beautiful beans! Which ones are your favorite tasting? I have never grown beans for drying, but hope to. I do have some cranberry bean seeds that I will try.
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Post by brownrexx on Jan 21, 2018 15:00:25 GMT -5
I think that our favorites are probably the black beans and the Bolitas. Everyone who has tried the Bolitas loves them. I like the size and the creaminess of them. they are a pole bean.
You will have to try cooking with dry beans. I have learned so much. I was really intimidated at first but it's really pretty easy. Last night I made rice and beans with some of my black beans that I cooked all day in the crock pot. That is scrambled eggs on the side. All you do is put them in the crock pot the night before and cover with water. Don't turn the crock pot on. In the morning drain the water and add more water to cover the beans and cook about 6 hours on low. That's it and you have cooked beans. I use them that day and freeze the rest in canning jars which are the same size as a can of beans so that I can use them in chili or other recipes.
20180120_172640 by Brownrexx, on Flickr
Here is a simmered bean recipe with the Bolitas that I call Beans with Bacon. It's like baked beans but made on the stovetop
Beans & Bacon by Brownrexx, on Flickr
And another crock pot favorite is Cuban Beans made with my black beans. Super easy and served over rice.
Cuban Style Beans by Brownrexx, on Flickr
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jan 21, 2018 19:56:07 GMT -5
brownrexx, Looks real good and a very nice job on the beans. Very pretty beans!
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Jan 22, 2018 9:35:21 GMT -5
brownrexx, Bolitas are the Best! No question after raising them in 2017 and enjoying them this winter. Last year I grew Bolitas Forelle Fliederfarben Kahnawake Mohawk Sieva Lima bean This year: Bolitas True Cranberry Taylor Horticultural (bush) Puerto Rican Black Liberty Runner Beans Sieva again although I've not eaten nearly as many dried as I did fresh off the vine! I'm having to cut back the number of tomato and pepper plants to do so, however, our eating habits are evolving and I'm using more beans than tomatoes these days so it won't be a hardship.
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Post by brownrexx on Jan 22, 2018 9:39:09 GMT -5
Bolitas are the Best! No question after raising them in 2017 and enjoying them this winter. So glad that you liked them. They really are a good bean.
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Post by meandtk on Jan 22, 2018 11:07:36 GMT -5
I look forward to trying out some varieties that I've never tried. I need to put up something for them to run on. Of course, being just January, I have time. Perhaps when harvest comes in some of you can begin to share recipes, too.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jan 22, 2018 11:21:23 GMT -5
I look forward to trying out some varieties that I've never tried. I need to put up something for them to run on. Of course, being just January, I have time. Perhaps when harvest comes in some of you can begin to share recipes, too. Funny you mention recipes. I found one on the bean thread at GW from several years back. I hope I marked it. Let me check
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jan 22, 2018 11:23:21 GMT -5
Yea! I did mark it!
From Woman's Day Encyclopedia of Cookery
Beans, Creole Style 1 pound dried large Lima beans 6 cups water 1/2 pound bacon, diced (I sometimes use ham) 1 onion, chopped 1 green pepper, diced 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons seasoned salt 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 2 teaspons prepared mustard 1 teaspoon Worcestershire 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 1/3 cups (one pound 3-ounce can) tomatoes
Cover washed beans with water, bring to boil, and boil for 2 minutes. Cover and let stand for 1 hour; then cook until tender. Drain. Cook bacon in large skillet until crisp. Remove bacon and drain. Add onion and green pepper to fat in skillet and cook for 5 minutes. Blend in flour, seasonings, and sugar. Add tomatoes and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Add beans and heat. Sprinkle with bacon. Makes 6 ot 8 servings.
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Post by meandtk on Jan 22, 2018 11:29:55 GMT -5
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Post by aftermidnight on Jan 22, 2018 12:22:59 GMT -5
I'm another that doesn't grow beans for dry use, not that I wouldn't like to it's just that I don't have enough space. I have quite a few varieties that have dry bean uses but we eat them as snaps. Back in 2009 I read an article about a little bean, the seed about the size of a grain of rice "Comtesse de Chambord". Of course now that my interest had been peeked I started looking for them, I found this tiny little french bean had been grown in Quebec early on so the search was on, no luck. I had other people searching for them as well and we finally came to the conclusion there wasn't a commercial source for them anywhere in North America. I did get a couple of leads where to look from a GW member, both were in France. I ordered them from the only source I found offering them and believe it or not had them a week later. Tiny little seeds I grew 3 plants each in 5 hanging baskets, not knowing their growth habits I wanted to be able to move them into the greenhouse to finish off if needed. As green beans when young they are tender and have a hint of sweetness to them, freshly harvested seed have a hint of green that does fade as they continue to dry. This is the CdeC listed in the Beans of New York. There are several others out there with the same name but are slightly different in shape and size. The CdeC Russ Crow had and found his "Blue Jay" in is bigger and a different shape. And the one shown on the Daughter of the Soil blog in the UK and the CdeC someone sent me from Australia are different again. Two of us here in Canada ordered from the same place in France. Two Wings Farm grew and listed them the next year, unfortunately they have closed which is too bad as they had a lot of heirloom varieties, tomatoes for one. But, I'm happy to see they're now being sold both sides of the border. I guess the reason they just about disappeared is because of their size and shelling would be tedious. But well worth it if you take the trouble. Annette
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Post by aftermidnight on Jan 22, 2018 15:07:00 GMT -5
The only bean I grow and use as a dry bean is the Greek runner Gigandes, these beans are huge. The only recipe I've used them in is a Greek dish called Plaki, They might fill the bill for the recipe "Beans Creole Style" which I just added to my recipe file . I can't grow limas here, well I can but they don't amount to much. Annette
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jan 22, 2018 15:09:17 GMT -5
Wow, just wow. Those beans absolutely live up to their name.
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Post by brownrexx on Jan 22, 2018 15:13:51 GMT -5
I'm another that doesn't grow beans for dry use, not that I wouldn't like to it's just that I don't have enough space. My favorite dry beans are pole beans and you don't need much space for them. If you have a space about 3' square you can put up a teepee and grow about 8 pole bean plants and harvest a good amount of beans. That is what I did with Bolitas the first year. I think that I harvested a full 2 quart container of dry beans from that one teepee.
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Post by aftermidnight on Jan 22, 2018 15:23:14 GMT -5
Laura_in_FL, they also go by the name Gigantes, a T instead of a D. There was a lot of discussion awhile back thinking these were actually Limas but they're not, they're Phaseolus coccineus. It can get confusing tho , I have another runner called Samos Greek Lima, not a Lima it's another runner. Annette
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Post by brownrexx on Jan 22, 2018 15:23:16 GMT -5
hairymooseknuckles , you said this over on that cabbage thread so I copied if over here since it's about beans. We used to buy Navy, but it's getting harder to find the tiny navy beans I grew up eating. The bean everyone calls Navy now days is great northern beans. I call them baby butterbeans. There's nothing wrong with them, it's just not the Navy bean I grew up eating.I was at the supermarket this afternoon and I looked at the dry beans in the 1 lb. bags in Goya section. Did you ever look at those? They had Great Northern Beans but they also had Navy beans which were white and about half of the size of the Great Northern Beans. I wonder if this is what you were looking for. They are pretty small beans.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jan 22, 2018 16:12:41 GMT -5
brownrexx It just so happens Wife was at Walmart last night and guess what they had? Navy Beans! She bought all 5 packages they had on the shelf. When I get home tonight, I will post a picture. I Loves me some 38's! Before I confuse you by calling them 38's, I'll tell you a little family history. My family had a few Texas lawmen in it and they named beans by pistol calibers. Let's see, how do I put this without.... Ok, they named a bean by the loudness of your toots after eating them. Navy Bean were 38's, Pinto beans or red beans as we call them were 44's, Butter Beans were 45's. I know, I know, TOO MUCH information.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jan 22, 2018 16:29:06 GMT -5
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Jan 22, 2018 19:26:07 GMT -5
The only bean I grow and use as a dry bean is the Greek runner Gigandes, these beans are huge. The only recipe I've used them in is a Greek dish called Plaki, They might fill the bill for the recipe "Beans Creole Style" which I just added to my recipe file . I can't grow limas here, well I can but they don't amount to much. Annette I've been meaning to try these. I saw them on the news and found a place in Toronto that sells them by the bag. I was going to ask a family member to pick some up for me and forgot until I saw your post. Thanks for the reminder
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jan 22, 2018 19:50:36 GMT -5
brownrexx, Here is a picture of a navy bean. The navy bean is on the right and Butterbean on left. The navy is not starchy like the Butterbean or in other words doesn't make a real thick broth like a Butterbean does.
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Dry Beans
Jan 22, 2018 19:55:57 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by brownrexx on Jan 22, 2018 19:55:57 GMT -5
I am so glad you were able to find them. We also like the smaller less starchy beans at my house
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Jan 22, 2018 20:31:48 GMT -5
I love to cook with navy beans and they are easy to find locally. The best dried or fresh shelled bean that I have grown is Cranberry. Unlike most southern boys, I despise Lima beans in any form.
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