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Uncle Marvo · 28-06-2007, 09:15 AM posted to uk.rec.gardening

In reply to La Puce ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

On 27 Jun, 16:31, "David \(Normandy\)"
wrote:
I'll investigate. What time of year should the seeds be planted for
a Spring harvest? Can you recommend a variety?

Aquadulce can be sown in october and Sutton in late Feb but you must
be in a mild area and crops need to be sheltered somehow. I've never
grown them in autumn to be harvested in Spring. I like them better in
the summer )

That's the one, aquadulce. A longpod variety. And they don't tend to get
eaten by pests like the Sutton type.

But I also prefer them in the summer. My friend Rosalind recommended this:
picking them while they're still small, and eating the whole thing, not just
the beans inside, in a mange-tout stylee. You get all the flavour and ten
times the volume.

The auqadulce beans (not the pods!), though, are excellent for making a dip
for lamb skewers or just flatbreads or pitta (fully veggie). You blanche the
beans, plunge them into cold water, leave for five minutes, pop the skins
off, then fry a fair bit of garlic (I see a pattern emerging), cumin,
coriander, parsley and salt (and chilli if you want - I do) in a bit of
olive oil for five minutes, add 1/4 pint of water, bring to boil, put the
beans in for five minutes, then take out the beans with a slotted spoon,
shove in the blender, add the cooking juice until it is dip-like. It's a bit
like dhall but beany not lentilly.

Takes no time and is very impressive. Ideal way to get rid of beans that
have "gone over", or when you realise just how many beans you get off one
longpod plant.