On Beans (part I)

I started growing beans years ago, after trying some amazing  haricots vert that my friend and first garden mentor John grew in his plot at Buckeye Village, family housing at Ohio State. Lightly blanched, and carefully sautéed in some butter and minced garlic, they were a revelation, nothing like the frozen and canned beans I’d mainly grown up with in Montana. I don’t remember many fresh beans in the stores or even in restaurants in those days, though that’s changed of late pretty much everywhere in the US. In any event, I was hooked, and in the second garden I grew, in Grinnell, Iowa, in 1994, I planted lots of beans, and had amazing results. In the next few years, though, Grinnell saw a major infestation of bean leaf beetles. According to the Iowa State department of entomology, this is a soy bean pest (http://www.ent.iastate.edu/soybeaninsects/bean_leaf_beetle), and I imagine it had come in from the soybean fields (corn and soy: the two major crops of pretty much the entire cultivated space of the state of Iowa, alas). They destroyed the last of my 1995 crop, and all of the one I vainly tried to grow in 1996. There are effective ways to control bean leaf beetles that involve chemical solutions (primarily sevin), but I shy away from pretty much every poison, especially ones applied to what you’re going to eat. I was pretty frustrated, and rather than use pesticides, I finally gave up trying to grow beans.  Until a couple years ago, when I decided to try a row or two. Whether the farmers had eradicated the beetle from the surrounding fields, or whether they forgot where I live, or had just moved on, the bean leaf beetle hasn’t made an appearance for a few years, and I’ve begun to grow beans in earnest again. This year I was pretty ambitious, and have a huge crop, with various types, including bush and pole varieties, beans to be eaten fresh (green and yellow).  I also planted a number of heirloom beans to be eaten dried (my dad gave me a few packages from Seedsavers, where I get a lot of my beans). Everything is growing fabulously this season, and I’m just now starting to harvest those haricots vert.  The phrase Haricots vert literally means green beans in French–but the bean is longer and thinner than the garden variety green bean in the US, as you can see in the picture to the left.  I’ve got a lot of methods and recipes are for various beans I grow. I’ll be blogging on recipes and how to grow beans in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, to get started, I provide the fastest way to start enjoying beans from the garden.

Blanching beans

First, beans should be as fresh as possible. They will keep raw in the refrigerator, but not for long, especially the store-bought ones.  Fresh from the garden they’ll keep longer. If the recipe doesn’t call for cooking them on direct heat, when I’m ready to cook them, I usually blanch the beans first. Put them in a saucepan that has a tight-fitting lid, cover the trimmed and cleaned beans into the pot, and then pour water to just cover. Add about 1/2-1 teaspoon of kosher salt, cover, and bring to a rapid boil. Watch them closely once they start boiling, and test them frequently with a fork. When they seem done, run one bean under cold water and take a bite; it should be cooked through, but retain a fresh crunch–they shouldn’t be chewy or fibrous. They should also still be a bright green (or yellow). If they’ve gone olive drab (for green beans) or grayish (for yellow), then you’ve probably overcooked them. Once they are done, plunge them into an ice bath, or run them under very cold water, to stop the cooking. Let them drain, make sure they’re completely cool, and then spread them out over a dish towel or paper towels.  If you’re not using them right away, wrap them in a paper towel, put in a plastic bag, and put in crisper until you use them (they’ll keep for 1-2 days; if you’re not going to use them soon, best to store them raw).

The best part about blanching is that one of the best ways to eat them is  precisely at this stage of the cooking. I usually serve a big bowl, or a huge pile of blanched beans as part of a relish tray, especially when there are kids around, too, because they eat them like candy. And fresh from the garden and blanched? They really are sweet as candy without anything at all.

See my next posts for more elaborate bean recipes!