Re: garden = food = ?
- Subject: Re: garden = food = ?
- From: Tony and Moira Ryan t*@xtra.co.nz
- Date: Thu, 01 May 2003 09:15:33 +1200
Nan Sterman wrote:
>
> A foodie question for my Medit pals:
>
> I grew fava beans this year for the first time but I have no idea how
> to prepare them. I'd appreciate any help you might offer but since
> this is a bit OT, let's communicate off-line.
Hi Nan,
Bridget has given you one good idea. However, I can add to this.
With fava beans (the English know them as "Broad Beans" as do we) it is
important to take them young. When they are fully ripe, they become
tasteless and floury - although some people say that at this stage they
can be skinned and the contents of each bean dried for use as winter
supplement in stews and suchlike. We have not tried this.
It is a good idea to "feel" the beans through the pods as soon as the
pods reach a reasonable size, and pick them when you can feel the beans
inside as distinct knobs. At this stage the pods will be green (later
they go yellowish and may develop blackish spots on the outside). Pods
can be quite large yet the beans inside have not yet developed properly
and there is no point in picking them then (although some people suggest
that you can pick and cook entire beans when they are young).
Fully developed beans will be about half an inch long and quite plump.
Fully grown pods are typically 4-5 inches long. The individual beans
should be green (a few rare varieties are red). If they have changed to
a dirty white, they are over-ripe and if you want to eat them at this
stage (we would not!) then they will need skinning, or they could be
dried and made into a bean powder for adding to soups and stews.
We see no point in skinning the individual fresh beans, we always cook
and eat them intact. Most commonly, we just cook them as we would peas.
They have a fairly strong flavour, which a /few/ people do not like. We
love them!
They can be used as a separate vegetable, or cooked and served in a
white sauce as one would cauliflower. Or they can be added to stews etc.
They also go very nicely with bacon.
Tony
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ. Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
