Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner beans. I
was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered which, in your
opinion, have the best flavour.
--
Jamps.

On Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:11:57 +0000, jamps wrote:

Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner
beans. I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered which,
in your opinion, have the best flavour.

Bob Flowerdew's 'gourmet choices' are Desiree, Kelvedon Marvel and (the
nearly stringless) Butler. Pick small for best flavour, whatever the
variety.

On 21 Jan 2010 11:21:38 GMT, Derek Turner wrote:

On Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:11:57 +0000, jamps wrote:

Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner
beans. I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered which,
in your opinion, have the best flavour.

Bob Flowerdew's 'gourmet choices' are Desiree, Kelvedon Marvel and (the
nearly stringless) Butler. Pick small for best flavour, whatever the
variety.

I grow Desiree. They are white floweed and almost stringless if
picked young. Someone told me once that the white flowered ones set
better for some reason, perhaps the birds don't go for them so much.
I've never had any problem.
Watering well makes a big difference.

Pam in Bristol

"jamps" wrote in message
...
Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner beans.
I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered which, in your
opinion, have the best flavour.
--
Jamps.



My favourite is 'Enorma'.

Spider

In article ,
Spider wrote:

"jamps" wrote in message
...
Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner beans.
I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered which, in your
opinion, have the best flavour.

My favourite is 'Enorma'.

Modernist! I tend to grow Polestar :-) More seriously, I don't find
that there's all that much difference, and the key is to pick them
before they start to go lighter in colour and less 'furry'. It's
hard to describe, but fairly easy to see, and typically happens at
c. 3/4" in width.

Dried, ripened runners are good, too, and make excellent winter fare.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

wrote in message
...
In article ,
Spider wrote:

"jamps" wrote in message
...
Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner
beans.
I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered which, in your
opinion, have the best flavour.

My favourite is 'Enorma'.

Modernist! I tend to grow Polestar :-) More seriously, I don't find
that there's all that much difference, and the key is to pick them
before they start to go lighter in colour and less 'furry'. It's
hard to describe, but fairly easy to see, and typically happens at
c. 3/4" in width.

Dried, ripened runners are good, too, and make excellent winter fare.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

You're certainly right about picking them younger; we try not to let them
get too tough. We always miss one or two, though :~(. It's my mouth
that's the modernist, btw; the rest of me is fairly old fashioned ... yup,
including the body, before anyone else says it:~). When you say 'dried'
runners, do you mean the entire pod, or the inner seeds?

Spider

In article ,
Spider wrote:

You're certainly right about picking them younger; we try not to let them
get too tough. We always miss one or two, though :~(. It's my mouth
that's the modernist, btw; the rest of me is fairly old fashioned ... yup,
including the body, before anyone else says it:~). When you say 'dried'
runners, do you mean the entire pod, or the inner seeds?

I am a bit of an old fossil, as people may have guessed :-) I mean
the inner seeds.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

wrote in message
...
In article ,
Spider wrote:

You're certainly right about picking them younger; we try not to let them
get too tough. We always miss one or two, though :~(. It's my mouth
that's the modernist, btw; the rest of me is fairly old fashioned ... yup,
including the body, before anyone else says it:~). When you say 'dried'
runners, do you mean the entire pod, or the inner seeds?

I am a bit of an old fossil, as people may have guessed :-) I mean
the inner seeds.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

:~). I thought you must have. RG has tried them, but I confess I didn't
bother. I'm sure they'd be good in a casserole, perhaps I should try that
sometime.

Spider

wrote:

Dried, ripened runners are good, too, and make excellent winter fare.

But like red kidney beans, the ripened ones must be boiled vigorously
for a good ten minutes before being eaten.

Allegedly.

--
Rusty

In article ,
Rusty Hinge wrote:

Dried, ripened runners are good, too, and make excellent winter fare.

But like red kidney beans, the ripened ones must be boiled vigorously
for a good ten minutes before being eaten.

Allegedly.

It's more than allegedly, but the point of the 'vigorous' boiling
is solely to ensure that all of the beans are held at boiling point
for long enough to destroy the toxins. Following that, they can
be cooked at any temperature.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In message , Spider
writes

"jamps" wrote in message
...
Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner beans.
I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered which, in your
opinion, have the best flavour.
--
Jamps.



My favourite is 'Enorma'.

Spider

Mine too! But don't leave them hanging too long. Nine - ten ins. just
about perfect, usually. Never really tried to freeze them - do they
freeze well? And if they do, is the taste affected? They come in such
abundance that I usually give them away by the bag load and it seems
such a waste not to put them to good use.
--
Gopher .... I know my place!

Gopher wrote:
In message , Spider
writes

"jamps" wrote in message
...
Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner
beans. I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered
which, in your opinion, have the best flavour.
--
Jamps.



My favourite is 'Enorma'.

Spider

Mine too! But don't leave them hanging too long. Nine - ten ins. just
about perfect, usually. Never really tried to freeze them - do they
freeze well? And if they do, is the taste affected? They come in such
abundance that I usually give them away by the bag load and it seems
such a waste not to put them to good use.

I also give them away as fast as I pick them. Frozen beans can be purchased
at any Supermarket but good fresh beans are hard to come by.
--
Jamps.

"jamps" wrote in message
...
Gopher wrote:
In message , Spider
writes

"jamps" wrote in message
...
Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner
beans. I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered
which, in your opinion, have the best flavour.
--
Jamps.


My favourite is 'Enorma'.

Spider

Mine too! But don't leave them hanging too long. Nine - ten ins. just
about perfect, usually. Never really tried to freeze them - do they
freeze well? And if they do, is the taste affected? They come in such
abundance that I usually give them away by the bag load and it seems
such a waste not to put them to good use.

I also give them away as fast as I pick them. Frozen beans can be
purchased at any Supermarket but good fresh beans are hard to come by.
--
Jamps.


Having scoffed both, I must say I disagree. Store-bought frozen runners are
usually woody and taste of cardboard:~( We save some of our runners to
have with our Christmas dinner. It's positively joyous to eat summery beans
in the depth of winter. Yummy! :~)

Spider

Spider

jamps wrote:

I also give them away as fast as I pick them. Frozen beans can be purchased
at any Supermarket but good fresh beans are hard to come by.

The trick is to blanch them and freeze them in portions in the blanching
water.

That way, you don't get dehydration, and if you finish the cooking in
the same water, good veggie stock for making proper gravy.

--
Rusty

"Gopher" wrote in message
...
In message , Spider
writes

"jamps" wrote in message
...
Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner
beans.
I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered which, in your
opinion, have the best flavour.
--
Jamps.


My favourite is 'Enorma'.

Spider

Mine too! But don't leave them hanging too long. Nine - ten ins. just
about perfect, usually. Never really tried to freeze them - do they freeze
well? And if they do, is the taste affected? They come in such abundance
that I usually give them away by the bag load and it seems such a waste
not to put them to good use.
--
Gopher .... I know my place!

Yes, they certainly freeze well. We've frozen them both blanched and
unblanched, and found it doesn't make a lot of difference, although we don't
keep them beyond a few months. I don't feel that the flavour is
significantly altered, though it's important not to store them next to
anything strong-flavoured. I used to be served home-grown runners by my
m-i-l when visiting, and they always tasted of gooseberries :~(.

Spider