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:

www.organiccatalogue.com

www.nickys-nursery.co.uk

www.adoptaveg.org

http://www.realseeds.co.uk/

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.

May Day Magic

First of May – Late Spring and the main planting Month

Well, they do say you should be careful what you wish for – you might get it! And, we were wishing very hard for some rain. It has now officially been confirmed that April 2012 was the wettest April since records began, well over 100 years. For many people around the country this is a tragedy, with lost livestock, destroyed homes and property and even one man drowned in the floods.

For growers, all is definitely not lost. The ground is becoming quite wet now but not yet, damagingly so. For quite some time, the rain just ran off the drought hardened earth but, it has now penetrated quite well, although yesterday, when I dug a couple of shallow ridges to plant my too well sprouted beans – Purple Teepee [dwarf purple skinned French beans] and Yinyang or Orca beans [dwarf growing variety good for drying for winter] – the ground was still not too wet. My real fear is that it is a bit too cold though, not as cold as it was last Saturday when we had our Spring Fair. Still, these beans will just have to grow or not, as they will. There were too many of them for me to pot up in my polytunnnel and I have several other varieties still waiting to be planted out.

This year I have sown beetroot [Boltardy] in pots in my polytunnel. I’m not really sure why, as I’ve never had any problems with their germination when sown straight into the ground, although it does mean I now don’t have to thin the rows. That said, each beetroot seed actually has 2 or 3 seeds in it so the young plants still have to be separated for growing on. Either way, there is a little work involved. I’m just trying this method as an experiment. It certainly saves on seed. From half a packet I have now planted out three by five metre rows where before, I would have used two packets of seed for this area. In spite of the cold weather, they seem to have settled in quite well.

It did stop raining for a few hours yesterday so, I was able to go to my plot to feed the birds and water my tunnel – odd to be carrying water in weather like this but, of course, it doesn’t rain indoors!

I lifted my first early potatoes yesterday – Vales Emerald, from my polytunnel. In my last Blog I was complaining about red ants having destroyed several of my potato plants. I have now lost a few more and on digging around their roots I have discovered another red ant nest. I’m afraid I also had to dig it out and spray again with Py. It has been quite disappointing for my crops and has somewhat reduced my sympathy for that particular branch of wildlife.

However, the potatoes I did lift were delicious and it has cleared an area in my tunnel to start planting out tomato and chillis which are now becoming slightly pot-bound.

As I am writing I hear the forecast is promising dry weather for tomorrow so, hopefully, I will be able to spend a few hours on my plot clearing an area for climbing beans, setting up the canes and, with luck, planting some out. If I can break the ground down enough I might even consider sowing some carrot and spring onions.

Fruit bushes and canes look fresh and healthy and are satisfyingly covered in blossom. I still haven’t used all the gooseberries I froze last summer. I might use them to make a batch of gooseberry and mint jelly – the mint is particularly lush just now – and this jelly is perfect with any roast meats but especially with lamb.

Gooseberry and Mint Jelly

Gooseberries make a satisfyingly sharp jelly especially if used while slightly unripe

900 gms / 2lbs gooseberries 

600ml/1 pint water

Sugar ( see method) 

Large bunch of mint

½ litre [1 pint] washed, dried  and finely chopped mint leaves    

Method

1. Wash the gooseberries and remove leaves or pieces of twig  - it isn’t necessary to top and tail them.

2. Put in a pan with the water and the large bunch of mint (use a large pan, like a preserving pan if you have).

3. Bring to the boil then simmer gently until the fruit is soft, approx 10 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to crush the fruit occasionally as it cooks, a little more water may be added if necessary.

4. Strain the fruit through a jelly bag or muslin bag – leave overnight. Do not squeeze the bag or the jelly will be cloudy.

5. Measure the juice and add 450g/1 lb sugar to each 600ml/1 pint juice

6. Put the juice into a clean large saucepan or preserving pan, add the sugar and heat gently, stirring to ensure all the sugar has dissolved, then bring to a rolling boil and boil rapidly until setting point is reached.

7. Skim and put into pots. Allow it to cool slightly, then add the chopped mint and stir a little to encourage the mint to mix evenly through the jelly. [If you add the mint immediately it will stay on the surface of the jelly]. 

8. Cover and seal.

Autumn harvesting

I have just returned from a reasonably long holiday in Andalucia (southern Spain) well! It was long for me anyway, I’m not usually away for more than a couple of days. I returned in the middle of the night to a cat in tears as he had been mauled by (apparently) another cat and was desperately in need of a vet. Although not injured, my other cats were equally upset. They so put the guilt trip on me! Really I hadn’t left them unattended. My cat carer is very competent and kind, just not the person they wanted.

It is autumn. When I visited my plot I was dismayed by how overgrown it was. Grass paths are rampant, weeds have taken over, caulis have overgrown, cucumbers are overripe, runner beans are too mature, tomatoes are too, too many.

I have collected several buckets full of several varieties of tomatoes and have found homes for most of them, not least, several more tubs of frozen tomato pulp for use in the winter. I’ve noticed that the runner-bean poles on the plots of many of my neighbours have fallen over. Mine would have too if I hadn’t propped them up but, in any case, the beans are not worth harvesting – too mature, too stringy, too hard. No worries, I will dismantle the canes and compost the rest of the crop. I have already harvested and dried my Borlotto beans. They are good, though I think I will look for a climbing variety next year – so much easier to dry for winter use. I see that my Yinyang (Orca) beans are almost ready. I worry that the weather might be too damp for successful drying. I have not seen climbing varieties of these beans but, when they lie on the ground in damp weather they are more likely to go mouldy.

There is a load of stuff to deal with now. I have harvested most of my squashes and pumpkins. Really I’m not interested in the huge varieties for competitions, nor the large pretty ones for Hallowe’en lanterns. I am looking for the small fruits which will store easily for use as a winter vegetable. My favourites are butternut squashes. This year the germination rate was not good and from a couple of plants I have ended up with only 4 squashes. If you do have a good crop you mean to store, make sure they are dry and store in a frost free environment out of direct sunlight. Check them regularly for rot and don’t store in direct sunlight, on a wooden or on a carpeted surface. If they do break down they will destroy those surfaces. I intend to store mine in a dark attic room on top of cardboard. I do hope they will last for the winter as they are staple vegetable for winter.

Talking about staples for winter, I have now lifted all my potatoes including my Sarpo Mira and Sarpo Axona which are both late maincrops. When lifting them, separate the damaged ones – slug damaged or by digging implement - and use these immediately as they will not keep and will damage your stored potatoes. Make sure they are dry before you store them in hessian or paper sacks and store in cool, dark frost free conditions. Mine are going into my attic room. Gosh, it is going to be packed when I have finished. Hopefully they will keep well into the new year, unless I have eaten them all first.

For the first time, this year, I have enough carrots to store. Goodness, this has never happened to me before. I do have some damage from carrot root-fly but, I have been harvesting Purple Haze from my raised carrot bed with little damage. Although not huge roots, they have excellent texture and flavour. My Resistafly and Flyaway have been good, although, obviously I hadn’t prepared the bed well enough as the carrots, although excellent flavour and strong roots are really very forked.

My carrots – Creme de Lite (F1 from Dobies) planted straight into a well prepared bed on the flat ground have been excellent. There has been some carrot root fly damage but the carrots have been huge, flavoursome and tender. I do recommend them. I will leave them in the ground as long as I can manage. I’m not yet sure how I will store them. If the winter is going to be as bad as has been predicted then I don’t think that a sand-pit or my shed will suffice. They might also have to go in bags in my attic room.

Tomatoes, Beans and Strawberries

Tomatoes, Beans and Strawberries

I was talking in my last blog about looking after tomato plants. Pinch out the side shoots as shown in the photograph,  if they are NOT 'bush' tomatoes. Keep looking for these side shoots - they will regrow and will develop as the plant grows. If you haven’t bought them from a garden centre you might find that you can think of planting them‘out’ in your greenhouse or polytunnel now. I’d be a bit wary still of planting them outdoors in case of late frosts. A fellow plot holder bought a few really nice, really strong potted tomatoes in a garden centre two or three weeks ago. Since he couldn’t put them out at the time, they have now become very overgrown and 'leggy'.

Now the broad beans are coming close to harvesting, young sweet and tender – I’ll maybe give them a few more days. They have managed to outgrow their very miserable appearance after the harsh winter. I didn’t sow any broadbeans in spring this year, only last autumn. I have found that the spring sown ones, coming ready about three or four weeks after the autumn ones are very prone to black fly attack, in spite of pinching out their growing tips. I could spray them with something nasty, I suppose but, I really don’t want to do that. In any case, other vegetables are ready to eat so they are not so essential to fill in the ‘hungry gap’.

Try this very tasty recipe given to me by a fellow plot holder which he had discovered in The Cook’s Guide to Vegetables and recommended it:

Broad Beans à la Paysanne

15ml Olive oil -                                      Heat in a saucepan.

1 onion – finely chopped                        Fry onion and ham until soft.

75 gm ham – lean, thick and finely diced     

350gm broad beans – shelled               Add the beans and lettuce.

2 Little gem lettuce – chopped .Cover and cook gently for 6 – 8 mins, stir occasionally.
75 ml stock – chicken or vegetable Stir in the stock, cream and seasoning and cook over a verylow heat for 20 - 30 mins, stirring occasionally, taking care not to break up the beans. 

50 ml single cream                                         

Salt and freshly ground black pepper    
Sprigs of fresh mint or chervil               

                                 Turn into a warmed serving dish and garnish. Serve with grilled meat or an omelette or as a lunch dish with crusty bread.

Notes: For a stronger flavour try smoked bacon or ham.

For a lighter dish, replace the cream with crème fraiche.

Runner beans and French Beans

Following advice from a well known TV gardener a couple of years ago, I no longer sow my beans straight into the ground – then wonder what happened to cause the abysmal germination rate of my beans. Now I ‘chit’ or sprout them first, over wet paper for a few days, until they start to sprout. Then, pot them up in 6 – 7 cm pots until they produce strong little plants. When all risk of frost has passed you can plant them out. (risk of frost is something you must gauge for yourself depending on where you live) this year, as soon as it had rained enough for the ground to be workable I put them all out. I know there is still a possibility of a late frost but now, I’m prepared to take that risk. In fact, last year I put my runner beans out at the beginning of May.

Runner beans and climbing French beans must have a strong wind proof frame to grow up – this can be as a tepee shape or as long crossed rows. Remember, when the beans grow up they will create quite a solid shape for the wind to meet and knock over.

I love runner beans, young and fresh they are probably my favourites but, they can grow past the young and fresh stage fairly quickly and become old and tough. When ready – what you can’t eat yourself, sell or give away – pick. Pick every day or every 2 days and if necessary put in the compost. Once you allow the beans to mature the plants will stop producing.

That said, each year I await with some impatience, the start of the runner beans but I really do get tired of them by the end of July. I did try freezing them last year. They were horrible. Best to eat them when they are fresh and enjoy then, await with impatience the bean crop next year.

French beans (kidney, flageolet and haricot) give a wonderful variety which can be climbing or dwarf (don’t need climbing frames). They can give you tasty young beans you can eat early in the season, pods and all, or even just pods as in the green French beans and ‘fine’ beans you see imported to our super markets. The pods can be a range of green shades or purple(though, in fairness, the purple ones are green when cooked). All, when picked young and fresh are delicious – don’t overcook them. Some varieties are excellent for drying and storing for the winter(or even for seed for next year – though, they are promiscuous, they will cross pollinate). My favourites are Borlotto(beige with red splotches) – can be climbing or dwarf – and Yinyang or Orca beans(very clear black and white in a yinyang design – how very pretty). I started with them a few years ago when my daughter bought a packet or them from somewhere – she gave me half – half of which germinated. I saved all of the beans for seed. The following year, I was able to use half, give some to other keen bean growers and keep some for seed. Don’t sow them too early – end of May- early June is good. More on this later.

Strawberries  Do keep a lookout for ripening strawberries. They are turning red now. I found a small ‘bunch’ ready on my plot. Unfortunately, so had the birds.  I do understand if you must net the crop when you only have a small patch but, please! keep the net high off the plants and leave an escape hole. Birds, especially blackbirds will find a way in but, if the net is high they are less likely to get their feet caught in the net and die a most distressing death or become prey for some larger bird or a cat. It is irritating when they take a peck out of every strawberry trying to find the sweetest but, life is harsher for them than for us.

The one strawberry I did get this morning which had not been attacked by birds or slugs was DELICIOUS! Roll on the strawberry season!