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Saturday 29 September 2012

Growing and Using Beans for Winter use - Dried Beans



Growing Beans for Winter use – drying
Well, as I only have an allotment and not a farm, I tend to grow only a few of each variety of vegetables, fruit, flowers and herbs [though some do take over like mint and tarragon!].
I am always aiming to have enough food, spices, herbs, flowers for the whole year. Of course, this has never yet happened although, for two years, just after I took over my allotment, I did manage to eat from my allotment right through the year – this is a long way from being self sufficient but, I can still dream!
As I have said before, having food for summer and autumn is pretty easy – as long as you put a bit of work in, even in poor weather years like this one. I find, I am always planning for the winter and spring months [I guess I’m being boring about this now!]
If you are vegan or vegetarian, the Legume family [peas, beans and lentils] is extremely important for protein and minerals. These vegetables are an excellent, cheap and healthy source of protein, fibre and minerals which are also low in fat and contain no cholesterol.
On my plot, in the cool and damp UK and especially on my heavy clay soil, the varieties I grow are important.
I have in the past, tried growing different French, Broad [or Fava], Runner beans and chickpeas.
I was given a present of a few chickpeas and was amazed when they grew on my heavy clay soil [not recommended]. The young green chickpeas were just amazingly delicious cooked and would probably be worth the effort again for just that short experience. In spite of their reputation for producing malic acid on their leaves when damp – which, I believe, can be very irritating to the skin, I had no problems. The only problem was that my crop was so small – they are low growing [they look like common vetch] so if the weather is wet it can be very difficult to save the seed – and mice love them. However, I have saved a jar of the seed and I will try again.
I‘m not keen on frozen beans and prefer to eat them when at their best fresh although, I do believe some of the French bean varieties which are suitable for drying can freeze successfully – try pea beans [I haven’t tried this yet though might this autumn].
I have tried drying broad beans and runner beans – no problem with the drying process but, I really didn’t enjoy eating the product. My jar of dried broad beans is now used a ‘baking beans’!
This brings us to that wonderful, amazing and delicious group of vegetables – French Beans. For several years I have grown and struggled to save several varieties which are just wonderful as dried beans. My problem has been that the best of them are mostly dwarf varieties – Borlotto, Yinyang [Orca Beans]. They dry wonderfully and are excellent in a range of winter dishes. However, because they are low growing and ripen for drying in September/ October - the ground and the atmosphere becomes increasingly damp. The pods are attacked by slugs, mice, ants [yes ants, I swear it], fungi, rot, etc., much of the crop can be lost.
Over the last couple of years I have now ‘worked up’ a selection of climbing or pole beans. My friend and neighbour at the allotment gave me some Jack Edwards seeds [a Heritage variety – they seem to be similar to several other ‘Pea or Wax’ beans. They are lLike my favourite Orca or YinYang beans but, in this case they are a climbing variety so, have a much better chance of being saved for drying – though I am reluctant to give up yet on my Orca Beans. I believe they are also excellent for freezing as podded mature beans – I’ll give it a try and get back on this.
I have grown Borlotto [check also Barlotta lingua di Fuoco] beans, fairly successfully for some years but, as they are also a dwarf variety, it has been difficult to save a good harvest of them. Now, however, there is a climbing variety on the market. I have bought some and will try next year. A variety of black beans which has been around for a few years is - Cherokee Trail of Tears. They are smallish and black when dried and are excellent to eat.
Try also a purple bean - Blauhilde
Sources of these seeds and others are:
A couple of weeks ago, when I was hosting a seed swap table at a Harvest Festival, someone brought in a couple of packets of ‘Magic Beans’. To me they looked like they might be a variety of Lima Bean, though the contributor of the beans could give no information on them. I took a small handful of these beans and will try them out next year so, more on this next year.
Of course, once we think of drying these vegetables there can be problems. The given advice is to allow on them to dry on the vines or, bring the dried pods home and allow them to dry out completely before removing from the pods, or use a dehydrator if possible. As I am harvesting in damp conditions, I am more inclined to harvest when the pods looks as though they are drying out [not always dry on the wet ground!] bring them home and pod. I discard any discoloured or damaged pods or beans, being a bit worried about pests – especially bean weevil. I lay the beans out on tray in a coolish room with good ventilation. When the beans are well dried – this may take a couple of weeks - they should be very hard and give a sharp sound when dropped on the tray or surface, they should be dry. I store them in glass jars with good seals [ like kilner jars] but, I check regularly over the next few weeks for the presence of weevils – the tiny insects [5 mm long] will be apparent – there will be small holes in some of the beans and the weevils will be obvious. All is not lost – discard the damaged pods and the weevils and keep checking each week. I have had this problem only once and that in drying Broad Beans though I still keep up my weekly vigil on all my jars of dried beans. Last year, when I visited Andalucia, I was totally beguiled by a shop we visited, which had many sacks of an astonishing variety of dried beans – I wanted them!
It’s important to know that many, or most beans are toxic in the raw state so, if planning to eat raw in salads you must be aware of this problem. Some varieties are more toxic than others – do check this out. If eating fresh beans, it is necessary to cook for at least 10 minutes. For dried beans, they must first, be reconstituted and then cook which can take quite some time, depending on how old the dried beans are.
Please don’t be put off by these side issues. Cooking with beans is miraculous. You can buy an enormous variety of tinned beans and chickpeas in your local supermarket when none of the toxicity problems arises – they are wonderful. For me however, the best beans are the dried selection and especially those I have grown myself. And of course they are really, so much cheaper. Perhaps, the following recipes will encourage you:
Herby Bean Rissoles
The dried beans can be quite bland and colourless but, they are very nutritious and lend themselves beautifully to providing a base for your favourite flavours. These rissoles will freeze well. Put a layer of greaseproof paper between each rissole. Use within a couple of months.
275g (10oz) dried beans – kidney, butter, borlotto, yinyang (chickpeas are good too)
50g (2oz) butter
50g (2oz) plain flour
1 large onion – finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves – crushed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Small bunch each of lemon thyme, marjoram and tarragon – finely chopped
1 dsp. finely chopped parsley
2 Tblsp oil for frying
Method
·         Soak the beans overnight. Drain off the water.
·         Put the beans in a saucepan and just cover with water. Bring to the boil then simmer until the beans are soft.
·         Cool the beans then mash or put through the food processor.
·         Put the chopped onion in a saucepan with the butter and sweat (cook without allowing the onion to brown) until the onion is soft.
·         Add the garlic, thyme, marjoram and tarragon and mix in.
·         Add the beans, season to taste then stir in the parsley.
·         When the mixture is cold divide into even sized rissoles (this mixture should make 6 – 8) Roll in flour and shape.
·         Fry in a little hot oil, turning over when the first side has browned. Drain well. (I like these cooked on a griddle without oil.
·         Serve with vegetables in cheese sauce or fresh vegetables with a salsa sauce.
[Don't add the salt until the beans are cooked/soft or they won't soften]
Variations
Spicy Bean Rissoles
Replace the herbs with curry spices – 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp garam masala,
                                                                   ½ tsp turmeric (add a little Harissa paste if you like it hot)
Fry the spices with the onion then continue as before.
Serve with slices of lemon and a fresh mixed salad.
Vegetable and Bean Rissoles
Replace the herbs with - 50g frozen peas, 50g frozen sweetcorn, a small finely chopped or diced carrot.
In the summertime when fresh vegetables are available from my plot I will use those, otherwise I will use ones I have frozen in the summer.
Cook the vegetables in a microwave or a little water until soft. Cool and add with the mashed beans. Continue as before. Serve with chips, grilled mushrooms and tomatoes.
Don’t freeze if using frozen vegetables.

Bean and Chilli Hotpot
200gm dried beans or chickpeas
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes – or even better – a tub of home-frozen tomato pulp
2 – 3 medium onions finely chopped
2-3 red peppers -finely chopped
1 -2 finely chopped red chillies [ I like Joe’s Long – leave the seeds out if you don’t want it to be too hot]
2 – 3 young courgettes [try Orelia – much dryer and denser than Zucchini]
Garlic – 3-4 large cloves peeled and well chopped
Spices - ½ tsp allspice,  2 tsp cumin,  ¼ tsp ground black pepper,  ¼ tsp ground cinnamon, 2 tsp ground coriander
Salt – sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
! Tblsp freshly chopped parsley, 1 Tblsp freshly chopped coriander leaves, 1 Tblsp freshly chopped orinago or marjoram
2 Tblsp good olive oil
¼ Litre red wine
Method
·         Soak the beans or chickpeas overnight. Drain, wash and cover with water then bring to the boil and simmer gently until the beans are cooked [the older the beans, the longer it will take them to cook so, consider your supplier].
·         Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onions, garlic, peppers, chillies and courgettes.
·         Allow to sweat – cooking without colour for a few minutes – until the veg is soft.
·         Drain the beans or chickpeas and add to the pan.
·         Add the tomatoes, wine and seasoning.  remember not to add salt to the beans when they are cooking.
·         Simmer gently for 30 – 35 minutes – until the beans are soft.
·         Add the herbs and stir in well.
·         Serve topped with grated cheddar or parmesan and with warm crusty bread.

Re-constituting dried beans
There is a lot of advice out there on reconstituting dried beans to ensure the process is speedy or ‘gas free’, etc. However, I like things simple:
·         Pick over your chosen quantity of beans for the dish you are making to remove discoloured, shrivelled, very small beans or debris which may have made its way into your saved beans.
·         Put the weighed beans into a bowl approx 3 times the size to allow for expansion.
·         Cover with water and leave overnight or, for at least four hours. Add a tsp. of Bicarbonate of Soda if you live in a hard water area – do not add salt.
·         When the beans have re-constituted, rinse them off a couple of times with clean water then cover with fresh water, bring to the boil and simmer until the beans are soft-ish. Different beans take different amounts of time to cook. They should be soft without being soggy. Expect to start trying them after about an hour. If they are still hard or gritty, give them another half hour of cooking.
I have, in the past tried to re-constitute a bought packet of red kidney beans which never softened enough to use. I think the shop owner ‘saw me coming’ and passed off old stock on me. Dried beans, whether shop bought or home saved, have a reliable shelf life of 1 year, although I have grown crops from saved beans which are at least, 2 years old.

In this blog I have given only two recipes for dried beans. But, it is now becoming quite long. I will, in my next blog give a few more recipes which, I hope, will be found helpful.

Monday 24 September 2012

Late September on the allotment



Late September 2012
Isn’t it just wonderful when the only work you have to do with your allotment is to harvest the vegetables then take them home, cook them and eat them. A couple of years ago, as I arrived at the gate of my allotment field in early January, an elderly gentleman, taking a walk along the lane asked me with a tone of some amusement – what work could you possibly do on your allotment at this time of year?  - Well !  I replied,  harvest vegetables for my dinner, isn’t that the purpose of having an allotment? He smiled and nodded in agreement as he walked on.
What to eat from the allotment is always easy and usually into the autumn as well. Having a range of vegetables throughout the winter and into late spring when new crops become available requires a bit more organisation and some luck with the weather – not just throughout the winter but also through the summer when these vegetables are establishing
I do seem to have a definite desire to eat green vegetables, especially of the brassica family. It would seem that many people have to be persuaded to eat this vegetable family as being the most important health wise but, for me, I need no such persuasion. I feel quite wretched without them.
This year has been good for brassicas though, also for slugs and snails which seem to feel the same about brassicas as I do. Of course, I have lost a few cabbages – the snails and slugs have not been content to nosh on the outer leaves but have burrowed well inside which meant that, even when I trimmed off the outer leaves to remove the damage and the slugs themselves, there was little left. It seemed they preferred some plants to others so, I decided to leave their favourites and eat the rest myself – that left everyone happy ...ish!.
I will use slug pellets but, I prefer to use only when really necessary – on seed beds and young plants. I have used slug pellets occasionally through the summer on more mature plants but, only where they have been protected by heavy nets – which should discourage birds from invading the plots. This has not always been successful. I have come to my plot, a few days ago and shocked a female blackbird under my brassica net, with another in my [now open] fruit cage. A young robin has followed me into my brassica ‘cage’ when I was weeding and I had to wait some time before he emerged and flew away so that I could close it up again. I don’t doubt that the blackbird would have escaped from the netting if I hadn’t surprised  and panicked her. These birds do seem to find their way in quite easily but, if the netting is too fine they can get their feet caught in the fibres making escape impossible. Although, in the past, I’ve managed to arrive in time to extricate a variety of birds caught in nets[including a large and angry magpie], usually they will die a slow and distressing death. For this reason I have now dumped all of my fine net for something much more chunky and, it has to be said, much more expensive – this has taken me a little time to afford.c
I am still enjoying summer planted cabbages which are heartening up – not all together – great. Slugs have gone for one of them majorly and I am able to harvest the rest. Golden Acre Primo which I sowed in mid April then again in May. They have been reliably good this year, and even the slug damage can be trimmed off.
I sowed Broccoli Typhoon, a Calabrese variety, like one of those wonderful full green heads you can buy in your local supermarket.
Unfortunately, I can eat one of these heads on my own with my dinner so, they don’t last too long.
I am still harvesting my courgettes though the production is slowing down to a level I can use easily.
Of course, in my poly-tunnel, tomatoes are still producing multiple kilos every week. At least my peppers and chillies are now beginning to ripen usefully and I have been able to make several lots of hot roasted pepper and tomato chutney. Still quite a few to go. I hope it doesn’t get too cold before they all ripen. More chutney and relish making I guess – just as well I have an eager market – my family – for my products.
Do try my recipes for using autumn vegetables.


Cheesey Baked Chicken with leeks and Courgettes
4 trimmed skinless chicken breasts
4 good sized, trimmed, washed and sliced leeks
4 small to medium courgettes – [I am using Orelia which are drier and denser than zucchini]
250 gm trimmed and wiped mushroom of your choice
½ litre milk [1 pint]
Salt and pepper
Sauce
100gm – [4oz] butter
100gm – [4oz] plain flour
½ litre – [1 pt]  milk + the milk/liquid from the cooked chicken fillets
Good bunch chopped parsley
Tsp chopped thyme, tsp, chopped oregano
Salt and pepper
Topping
75gm – [3oz] grated gorgonzola cheese
75gm – [3oz] grated cheddar cheese
Method
·         Prepare the vegetables and arrange over the base of a large, shallow, oven-proof dish.
·         Place the chicken fillets on top.
·         Add the seasoning and the milk. Bake in a moderate oven[180°C – 5 gas] for 25 to 30 minutes.
·         Prepare the sauce – melt the butter then add the flour and cook out [without colour] to ensure the flour is cooked. Gradually add the milk to give a smooth roux then sauce. Add the salt and pepper.
·         Remove the chicken from the oven and drain off the liquid/milk [liquor] into the sauce mixture. Re-arrange the chicken and vegetables in the oven-proof dish.
·         Mix this liquor into the sauce and bring to the boil, stirring all the time. Check the seasoning and stir in the chopped herbs. Pour the sauce over the chicken dish, ensuring all of the chicken and vegetables are covered.
·         Sprinkle on the cheeses [ if you prefer make up the quantity with just cheddar cheese]
·         Return to the oven and bake in a moderate oven for a further 20 minutes or until the topping is golden brown.
·         Serve with green vegetables[peas, Brussels sprouts, cabbage] and mashed potatoes [do try mustard mash]



Mustard Mash Potatoes
1 kg [2lb] potatoes – floury potatoes are best
3 good sized tsp whole grain mustard
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
75gm [3oz] grated cheddar cheese
50 gm [2oz] butter
250ml [ ½pt] milk
Method
·         Wash and peel the potatoes and cut into even sized pieces. If you are using floury potatoes, it is best to steam them or they will break apart. Cook until the potatoes are soft all the way through.
·         Mash or put through a potato ricer.
·         While still hot, add the cheese and butter and mix in until well melted.
·         Add the milk, mustard and seasoning and stir in well. Reheat over a low flame to ensure the potato is hot without overcooking the cheese.
·         Serve with a topping of finely chopped parsley.