Does anyone grow fava beans? I've just learned that they are a good cool season crop and that the dried bean is higher in protien than soybeans. I did plant a few seeds a couple of weeks ago but then the temperature got down to the teens (supposedly, they can handle the 20's) so they probably got zapped. And I'm not exactly sure what to do with them. I've read that you can pick them young and eat them like snow peas but I'd like to know how to prepare the dried bean. I haven't been able to find any specific recipes for a fava bean dish. Anyone??

-- Bren (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), April 03, 2002

Answers

"Hannibal Lector" prefered them with a victims liver and chilled chianti in "Silence of the Lambs" :>)

On a serious note, Chilean Pistou with Cilantro Pesto is deliceous. I'll get the recipe from Mom when I see her today and post it this afternoon.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), April 03, 2002.

LOL<, too funny,, I was thinking the same thing

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), April 03, 2002.

Gosh, you guys! I had totally forgotten about that! Maybe that's why I'm having trouble finding recipes! :o)

-- Bren (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), April 03, 2002.

Bren, I just went to Google and AltaVista both and typed in: fava bean. Results were amazing. No lack of info or recipes.

I love 'em and seeds can be gotten from

www.southernexposure.com www.cooksgarden.com www.bountifulgardens.com

Good luck

-- Michaela (flhomestead@hotmail.com), April 03, 2002.

Bren,

Thank you for asking this. Not only did Mom give me the recipe, she gave me her copy of Sheila Lukins "All Around The World Cookbook" because she knows I like cooking international dishes and my ex wife took my copy with her.

Chilean Pistou with Cilantro Pesto

Pesto:

2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
2 small cloves of garlic, coursely chopped
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

place all ingredients except olive oil in a food processor. Pulse the machine until it is well chopped, but not puree'd. Then with the machine running , drizzle the oil throgh the feed tube until well combined and smooth.

Soup:

2 tbsp vinegar
3 medium leeks (1 1/2 pounds), roots trmmed, about 3 inches of greens.
4 medium carrots, 8 ripe plum tomatoes, 1 pound Idaho potatoes, all peeled and sliced in 1/2 inch pieces.
3 large fresh thyme sprigs
4 cloves of garlic, lightly bruised and peeled.
12 cups fresh vegetable broth
4 oz uncooked penne pasta
3 zucchini (8 oz),cut in 1/2 pieces
4 oz haricots verts (thin greenbeans) stem ends trimmed, halved crosswise.
1 cup fresh basil leaves
2 cup fresh kernel corn
3 pounds fresh fava beans (1 pound) with skin removed
Fresh grated parmesan cheese for garnish.

add the vinegar to a large bowl of water. Cut a 2 inch X in the white end of the leeks and a 3 inch X in the green end. Put them in the bowl to soak for 30 minutes. Remove and rinse in cold water, cut leeks lengthwise, then slice crosswise in 1/2 inch pieces.

Combine leeks, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, thyme, garlic and vegetable broth in a large soup pot and bring to boil. Reduce to medium-low heat and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered.

Increase heat to medium-high and add pasta, zucchini, haricots verts, and basil. When it starts to boil, reduce heat to simmer until pasta is tender ( about 15 minutes).

Add corn and fava beans and cook until both are tender (3 or 4 minutes).

Serve in shallow soup bowls. Top with a generous dollop of the pesto and parmesan cheese. Serves 8

I have used dried fava beans by soaking them in the fridge overnight. Also this recipe is good with other beans too.

Hope you like it. Think I'll look up a decadent internation dish for tonites meal. My ex may have taken my cookbooks, but she didn't take my affection of fine foods and wine (and being a chef and a homesteader, I can make them both :>)

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), April 03, 2002.

Wow, Jay! This looks incredible! I'm drooling already! I would have fought for custody of the cookbooks. :o) Tell your mom "Thanks"!

-- Bren (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), April 03, 2002.

I have tryed and tryed to grow fava beans here in southcentral Michigan and never had any luck. I thought they prefered hot and dry. You say cool?? Most likely cool would be o.k. but damp not??

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), April 03, 2002.

I did fight for custody of the cookbooks, but she had her son sneak em out the other door on me :>) I settled on grilled steak and shark fillet garnished with chives , mushroom- broccolli- carrot- jalepeno - steak trimming(for flavor) kabob and a rose' wine for dinner tonite.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), April 03, 2002.

diane, what I read in Eliot Coleman's "The Four Season Harvest" is what piqued my interest in trying them. I've already returned that book to the library but in Carla Emory's book she says "wet, cool climate...can't take a hot summer...whenever you plant peas".

Man, that stinks, Jay! Your supper sounded good, though. Was it a homemade wine?

-- Bren (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), April 03, 2002.

I have only had them a couple of times. I boiled them with a little salt, and they had a good bean flavor. They each had a tough husk around the bean which I removed after they were boiled. It's possible the smaller beans don't have such a noticible covering: my beans were the size of a quarter.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), April 03, 2002.

Of course its homemade wine. It was a '94 elderberry / white grape blend, aged on white oak chips in my carboy for two years then bottled in '96 with a white oak chip in the bottle. Every year I learn a little more of the art of vinting. Some are standard techniques, some ,as my use of oak chips, are my own variations.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), April 03, 2002.

Well see, this old gardener just learned another new trick!!! I have always planted them when I planted my other beans, which is way later than I plant peas. So, I wonder how long it would take seeds to get here if I ordered today?? :>)

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), April 04, 2002.

Diane, I have a packet of Fava Beans I ordered in 1999 from Territorial Seeds and didn't use. If you'd like I'll mail them to you. I think they'd still germinate. It's a 2 oz. packet which will sow 2, 17 ft. rows. The type of bean is Broad Windsor Fava. If you would like to have them, I'll e-mail you the description, culture and harvest of them from the seed catalog which has alot of good info about them.

-- Annie (mistletoe6@earthlink.net), April 04, 2002.

Would love them Annie.......you still have my address?? I'll pay for them and postage.....would save me dealing with a seed company at this late date. I am a bean saver......many different varieties I grow, but never have grown a fava. Must try planting with my peas!!!

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), April 04, 2002.

well, wrong Annie......just realized you DON'T have my address. Will e-mail :>)

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), April 04, 2002.

I got fava bean seeds from a store that catered to people from India and the middle east. I bought a 1 lb. bag full for about $1.25. When I was a kid, we had fava beans in our back yard in the winter in California. That means the weather was mostly in the 40's and 50's, with an occational light frost.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), April 04, 2002.

Jay, that sounds like some mighty fine wine! I'm hoping to try my hand at wine making as soon as these little ones give me a little more free time.

While I was at the library today, the video of "Silence of the Lambs" was sitting right there waiting for me to pick it up. So I checked it out in honor of Jay and Stan. It's been awhile since I've seen it. I should go soak some more fava seeds right now!

-- Bren (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), April 04, 2002.

"Hannibal", the sequel to "Silence.." is good too, but being so agriculturally oriented now, I know cauliflower when I see it :>)

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), April 04, 2002.

Bren,

You can make a gallon of home wine with only about 20 minutes tied up on 2 days ,one at the start and one at the end of the month the wine is working. Let me know if you want me to post it. BTW , the kids will be facinated by the working jug (at least everyone I saw was).

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), April 04, 2002.

Jay, I'd love it if you posted the info. I'm particularly interested in producing wild berry wines. Later, I'll probably need to ask you some questions on modifying the small truck toolbox my hubby has so graciously offered for my long awaited foray into vermicomposting. I really liked your step-by-step instructions you posted on the Singles forum.

-- Bren (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), April 04, 2002.

Bren,

Call E.C Kraus wine equipment and supplies at 816-254-7448 for their free catalog. You can also look in your area for a supply store, but I found Kraus much more reasonable priced and they deliver for free. I'll post my one gallon recipe for berry wine later in the week after I get my chores caught up some (As if a bachelor EVER gets caught up, we just get it to the point where we can put some off :>)

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), April 04, 2002.

Thanks, Jay! I'll give them a call since I know there won't be supplies available in our dry county.

-- Bren (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), April 04, 2002.

Well, I kept meaning to soak and sow some more seeds but I found out this morning that I don't need to. Two of the 5 seeds I originally planted have sprouted. It's pretty close to 4 weeks since I planted them. I'm sure the couple of artic blasts we had slowed them down a bit but it is good to know that the cold didn't totally zap them. I'm thinking that a couple more may still germinate. We'll see...

-- Bren (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), April 09, 2002.