I bought these fresh cranberry beans last Tuesday from Dirty Girl Farms (my favorite name of all) because I had never seen such pretty beans before. I also didn’t know what they were or how to cook them, but that’s the beauty of the farmers market — you can just ask.
These are a special heirloom variety called Flame something or other; unfortunately I forgot to write it down. As I had several tomatoes sitting around that were peaking, I shelled the beans and threw them all into this Tomato and Cranberry Bean Stew recipe by Nina Planck that I found on the Web. Next time, I plan to add salt as I go instead of at the end as she recommends. The beans lose their magical color in the cooking, but have a mild, creamy flavor. The result was chunky and spicy — Planck loves her peppers — and very satisfying; it’s a hearty enough stew to be dinner unto itself.
Related: Read our Man of La Muncha’s review of Real Food, Planck’s new book.
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September 21st, 2006 at 10:25 am
These look a little like the dragons’ tongue that Man of La Muncha and I bought from our farmers’ market about a month ago. I believe we blanched them then ate them in a salad–they were tasty!
September 21st, 2006 at 11:23 am
They’d be really good on their own or tossed with a few basil leaves, diced shallots, walnut oil, sherry vinegar, and a few quartered black mission figs. Blanch the beans for 3-4 minutes and be sure to dump them in cold water to stop the cooking.
The original recipe comes from Gerald Hirigoyen’s The Basque Kitchen.