Tried an experiment the other day in the kitchen which worked well.
I've collected lots of dry runner bean pods and shelled them without
knowing what to do with them all. Anyway, soaked some overnight in a
bowl of boiling water to de-wind them. Then boiled them for half hour
until tender then chilled them running some cold water over them. At
this stage the tough skins on the beans tear off quite easily if split
with a small knife. This task isn't as tedious as it may sound because
the beans are quite large and it doesn't take a lot to make a reasonable
sized portion. The resulting pile of cooked skinless beans tastes (to me
anyway) a lot like roasted sweet chestnuts. I threw them into a curry
and they worked very well.

So, the dried runner bean pods are worth harvesting!

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

On Oct 20, 6:51*pm, David in Normandy
wrote:
Tried an experiment the other day in the kitchen which worked well.
I've collected lots of dry runner bean pods and shelled them without
knowing what to do with them all. Anyway, soaked some overnight in a
bowl of boiling water to de-wind them. Then boiled them for half hour
until tender then chilled them running some cold water over them. At
this stage the tough skins on the beans tear off quite easily if split
with a small knife. This task isn't as tedious as it may sound because
the beans are quite large and it doesn't take a lot to make a reasonable
sized portion. The resulting pile of cooked skinless beans tastes (to me
anyway) a lot like roasted sweet chestnuts. I threw them into a curry
and they worked very well.

So, the dried runner bean pods are worth harvesting!

--
David in Normandy. *
* *To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
* *subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
* *by a filter and not reach my inbox.

Les haricots?

On 21/10/2011 09:41, harry wrote:
On Oct 20, 6:51 pm, David in
wrote:
Tried an experiment the other day in the kitchen which worked well.
I've collected lots of dry runner bean pods and shelled them without
knowing what to do with them all. Anyway, soaked some overnight in a
bowl of boiling water to de-wind them. Then boiled them for half hour
until tender then chilled them running some cold water over them. At
this stage the tough skins on the beans tear off quite easily if split
with a small knife. This task isn't as tedious as it may sound because
the beans are quite large and it doesn't take a lot to make a reasonable
sized portion. The resulting pile of cooked skinless beans tastes (to me
anyway) a lot like roasted sweet chestnuts. I threw them into a curry
and they worked very well.

So, the dried runner bean pods are worth harvesting!

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

Les haricots?

Just ordinary English runner beans. These are the variety 'Streamline'
as bought from Wilko's a number of years ago with large bean seeds that
are quite pretty shades of purple, blue and black. The skins on the
seeds are a bit too tough to make them nice to eat without removing them
first; but they come off easily after cooking and cooling.

I plan to try some simply tossed in a little butter next as a side
portion. I'm sure they'll be tasty. The texture as well as the taste is
similar to roasted chestnuts.

I'd better add the usual disclaimer here for beans, I think it applies
to all bean (seeds) ... that the boiling for half an hour is important
because it destroys a toxin in the beans which can otherwise make people
ill. Though I think it is only necessary to boil for ten or fifteen
minutes to destroy the toxin, the rest of the boiling time is simply to
cook / soften them.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

Sounds like a great way to use up over grown runners!

So, the dried runner bean pods are worth harvesting!

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.[/i][/color]

Les haricots?[/i][/color]

Just ordinary English runner beans. These are the variety 'Streamline'
as bought from Wilko's a number of years ago with large bean seeds that
are quite pretty shades of purple, blue and black. The skins on the
seeds are a bit too tough to make them nice to eat without removing them
first; but they come off easily after cooking and cooling.

I plan to try some simply tossed in a little butter next as a side
portion. I'm sure they'll be tasty. The texture as well as the taste is
similar to roasted chestnuts.

I'd better add the usual disclaimer here for beans, I think it applies
to all bean (seeds) ... that the boiling for half an hour is important
because it destroys a toxin in the beans which can otherwise make people
ill. Though I think it is only necessary to boil for ten or fifteen
minutes to destroy the toxin, the rest of the boiling time is simply to
cook / soften them.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.[/quote]

On Oct 21, 9:08*am, David in Normandy
wrote:
On 21/10/2011 09:41, harry wrote:





On Oct 20, 6:51 pm, David in
wrote:
Tried an experiment the other day in the kitchen which worked well.
I've collected lots of dry runner bean pods and shelled them without
knowing what to do with them all. Anyway, soaked some overnight in a
bowl of boiling water to de-wind them. Then boiled them for half hour
until tender then chilled them running some cold water over them. At
this stage the tough skins on the beans tear off quite easily if split
with a small knife. This task isn't as tedious as it may sound because
the beans are quite large and it doesn't take a lot to make a reasonable
sized portion. The resulting pile of cooked skinless beans tastes (to me
anyway) a lot like roasted sweet chestnuts. I threw them into a curry
and they worked very well.

So, the dried runner bean pods are worth harvesting!

--
David in Normandy. *
* * To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
* * subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
* * by a filter and not reach my inbox.

Les haricots?

Just ordinary English runner beans. These are the variety 'Streamline'
as bought from Wilko's a number of years ago with large bean seeds that
are quite pretty shades of purple, blue and black. The skins on the
seeds are a bit too tough to make them nice to eat without removing them
first; but they come off easily after cooking and cooling.

I plan to try some simply tossed in a little butter next as a side
portion. I'm sure they'll be tasty. The texture as well as the taste is
similar to roasted chestnuts.

I'd better add the usual disclaimer here for beans, I think it applies
to all bean (seeds) ... that the boiling for half an hour is important
because it destroys a toxin in the beans which can otherwise make people
ill. Though I think it is only necessary to boil for ten or fifteen
minutes to destroy the toxin, the rest of the boiling time is simply to
cook / soften them.

--
David in Normandy. *
* *To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
* *subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
* *by a filter and not reach my inbox.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

We have tried a similar experiment. Virtually tasteless. Never
realised they were poisonous raw.

In article ,
Martin wrote:

We have tried a similar experiment. Virtually tasteless. Never
realised they were poisonous raw.

Most ripe beans are best used as the starchy component of a dish,
with other ingredients to add flavour.

They can't be very poisonous. I've eaten uncooked broad beans without
any ill effects.

Firstly, the toxin is in the skins and increases significantly as
they ripen; young ones have virtually none.

Secondly, broad beans (Vicia) have very little of the toxin; it
is the New World Beans (Phaseolus) that are the real problem.
Well, except for things like Calabar beans, which aren't Vicia,
either :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 22/10/2011 08:53, harry wrote:
On Oct 21, 9:08 am, David in
wrote:
On 21/10/2011 09:41, harry wrote:





On Oct 20, 6:51 pm, David in
wrote:
Tried an experiment the other day in the kitchen which worked well.
I've collected lots of dry runner bean pods and shelled them without
knowing what to do with them all. Anyway, soaked some overnight in a
bowl of boiling water to de-wind them. Then boiled them for half hour
until tender then chilled them running some cold water over them. At
this stage the tough skins on the beans tear off quite easily if split
with a small knife. This task isn't as tedious as it may sound because
the beans are quite large and it doesn't take a lot to make a reasonable
sized portion. The resulting pile of cooked skinless beans tastes (to me
anyway) a lot like roasted sweet chestnuts. I threw them into a curry
and they worked very well.

So, the dried runner bean pods are worth harvesting!

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

Les haricots?

Just ordinary English runner beans. These are the variety 'Streamline'
as bought from Wilko's a number of years ago with large bean seeds that
are quite pretty shades of purple, blue and black. The skins on the
seeds are a bit too tough to make them nice to eat without removing them
first; but they come off easily after cooking and cooling.

I plan to try some simply tossed in a little butter next as a side
portion. I'm sure they'll be tasty. The texture as well as the taste is
similar to roasted chestnuts.

I'd better add the usual disclaimer here for beans, I think it applies
to all bean (seeds) ... that the boiling for half an hour is important
because it destroys a toxin in the beans which can otherwise make people
ill. Though I think it is only necessary to boil for ten or fifteen
minutes to destroy the toxin, the rest of the boiling time is simply to
cook / soften them.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

We have tried a similar experiment. Virtually tasteless. Never
realised they were poisonous raw.

The poison caught a number of people out when slow cookers became
fashionable twenty-odd years ago. The temperature isn't high enough in
them to destroy the toxin and people were getting ill from eating red
kidney beans.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

On 22/10/2011 10:35, Martin wrote:
On Fri, 21 Oct 2011 23:53:03 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On Oct 21, 9:08 am, David in
wrote:
On 21/10/2011 09:41, harry wrote:





On Oct 20, 6:51 pm, David in
wrote:
Tried an experiment the other day in the kitchen which worked well.
I've collected lots of dry runner bean pods and shelled them without
knowing what to do with them all. Anyway, soaked some overnight in a
bowl of boiling water to de-wind them. Then boiled them for half hour
until tender then chilled them running some cold water over them. At
this stage the tough skins on the beans tear off quite easily if split
with a small knife. This task isn't as tedious as it may sound because
the beans are quite large and it doesn't take a lot to make a reasonable
sized portion. The resulting pile of cooked skinless beans tastes (to me
anyway) a lot like roasted sweet chestnuts. I threw them into a curry
and they worked very well.

So, the dried runner bean pods are worth harvesting!

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

Les haricots?

Just ordinary English runner beans. These are the variety 'Streamline'
as bought from Wilko's a number of years ago with large bean seeds that
are quite pretty shades of purple, blue and black. The skins on the
seeds are a bit too tough to make them nice to eat without removing them
first; but they come off easily after cooking and cooling.

I plan to try some simply tossed in a little butter next as a side
portion. I'm sure they'll be tasty. The texture as well as the taste is
similar to roasted chestnuts.

I'd better add the usual disclaimer here for beans, I think it applies
to all bean (seeds) ... that the boiling for half an hour is important
because it destroys a toxin in the beans which can otherwise make people
ill. Though I think it is only necessary to boil for ten or fifteen
minutes to destroy the toxin, the rest of the boiling time is simply to
cook / soften them.

We have tried a similar experiment. Virtually tasteless. Never
realised they were poisonous raw.

They can't be very poisonous. I've eaten uncooked broad beans without
any ill effects.

I've a suspicion that broad beans don't contain the toxin anyway. My
seed packet mentions they can be eaten raw when young.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

On Oct 22, 9:15*am, wrote:
In article ,

Martin wrote:

We have tried a similar experiment. Virtually tasteless. *Never
realised they were poisonous raw.

Most ripe beans are best used as the starchy component of a dish,
with other ingredients to add flavour.

They can't be very poisonous. I've eaten uncooked broad beans without
any ill effects.

Firstly, the toxin is in the skins and increases significantly as
they ripen; young ones have virtually none.

Secondly, broad beans (Vicia) have very little of the toxin; it
is the New World Beans (Phaseolus) that are the real problem.
Well, except for things like Calabar beans, which aren't Vicia,
either :-)

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Just tried an experiment. Gave my wife's parrot a raw runner bean.
(It deserves to die anyway). It dropped it instantly. (They taste
with their tongues). It was perfectly happy to shred a complete pod.
But never ate a bean.
However they do eat toxic seeds in the wild. Maybe only when
nothing else is available.

On 23/10/2011 16:51, harry wrote:


Just tried an experiment. Gave my wife's parrot a raw runner bean.
(It deserves to die anyway). It dropped it instantly. (They taste
with their tongues). It was perfectly happy to shred a complete pod.
But never ate a bean.
However they do eat toxic seeds in the wild. Maybe only when
nothing else is available.

On first reading of your post I interpreted "dropped it instantly" as
the parrot instantly dropped dead! lol

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

In article , David in
Normandy writes
On first reading of your post I interpreted "dropped it instantly" as
the parrot instantly dropped dead! lol


Definitely a 'has bean' parrot !
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

On 24/10/2011 13:35, Janet Tweedy wrote:
In article , David in
Normandy writes
On first reading of your post I interpreted "dropped it instantly" as
the parrot instantly dropped dead! lol


Definitely a 'has bean' parrot !

As in gone to meet it's maker, joined the choir celestial, pushing up
daisies, deceased, defunct, dead, it is no more, an ex-parrot. :P

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

On Oct 23, 4:25*pm, David in Normandy
wrote:
On 23/10/2011 16:51, harry wrote:



Just tried an experiment. *Gave my wife's parrot a raw runner bean.
(It deserves to die anyway). *It dropped it instantly. (They taste
with their tongues). *It was perfectly happy to shred a complete pod.
But never ate a bean.
* *However they do eat toxic seeds in the wild. *Maybe only when
nothing else is available.

On first reading of your post I interpreted "dropped it instantly" as
the parrot instantly dropped dead! lol

--
David in Normandy. *
* *To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
* *subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
* *by a filter and not reach my inbox.

No, still with us. Unfortunately.