Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Beans

I made a pot of beans for supper last night. The beans are from Rancho Gordo in Napa Valley. I've posted about this before, but it bears repeating. These are the best beans in the world. The black beans make the most incredible pot liquor I've ever seen. Last night we had the Appaloosa beans - it looks like they are sold out now. Lots of resources on the web for heirloom beans - SSE has them too.

I soaked them overnight on Monday. Last night after work, put them on the stovetop (didn't rinse or drain, use the soak water) and cooked slowly for 2 hours. Browned a purple onion in my cast iron and added it towards the end with a little bit of salt. Served in a bowl topped with some fresh marjoram and some arugula thinnings. I made some buckwheat/cornbread as a side. Delicious.

These heirloom beans have so inspired me to grow beans this year. I typically grow beans for for fresh eating. Anyone have experience growing beans for dried beans? Is it really labor intensive? Were you able to get enough to get you thru the winter?

1 comment:

Kathy said...

I have grown scarlet runner beans before and they turned out really good. I do have a small Chicago yard so I didn't grow enough to last very long.