Are they dry beans or shellies?

Jim

Biz, I'm assuming they are dried beans, we grow them a lot here in Michigan and I get them dried just like great northern or pinto or kidney, etc.

I use them just like I use any other dried bean, I'm very fond of them in bean dip or bean soup but they also make a nice addition to chili or a taco salad type meal.

Annie

Hmmm... I'm assuming this time of year they're fresh. We get them fresh here. I like them mostly two ways. Cooked in some water or broth with garlic, until tender. I don't use too much water/broth and as they're starting to get tender I let some or most of the liquid boil off, depending on what I'm going to eat them with or on. I like them on rice or by themselves as a side. I also make them as above but with the addition of some ham or bacon or ham hock.

Like Annie I also have used them in chili or soup. They can be blanched and frozen for a great addition to winter veggie soup/minestrone/chili.

Good just steamed until tender and served with butter.

Cranberry beans are much sweeter than pinto beans and loses its markings when it's cooked, becoming a solid color. Try them in a succotash recipe (either freshly shelled or dried). They work well in most country-style soups or cooked and added to a Shepherd's Pie.

Cook them with sweet spices (nutmeg and cinnamon). They get tender very easily and are good at absorbing the aromatic flavors from spices and herbs.

-Grainlady

Fresh beans. / shellies..
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And thanks for the suggestions. I was thinking soup... but now I'm thinking cooking with nutmeg... :-)

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They really are pretty!! (and I know I will be disappointed when I cook the color away, so I had to take pictures!!)

Those are lovely!

I have Rockwell growing this year...

This is a link to the Farm Blog where I get a lot of my local produce and I purchased these beans for seed last winter.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rockwell

Yum, Biz, those look delicious. When I have fresh shellies, I don't like to cook them with a lot of flavors, they DO absorb them.

I like the fresh, clean taste of the beans without a lot of seasoning other than salt and pepper. Maybe a bit of bacon in place of the salt...

Annie

mmmm... cranberry beans and bacon. there's a thought. I'm in the everything's better with bacon camp... :-)
I'm working from home today... maybe I'll go fry up some bacon when I get off my teleconference...

Terri, the rockwell's are gorgeous, too!

Fresh shelly cranberry beans are sometimes called "Horticultural Beans", for reasons I have been unable to discover. The link below is interesting and has a recipe.

The simplest preparation is to cook them in water with a little pork fat of any kind (bacon is fine). An herb such as bay leaf or sage can be added while cooking. Onion or garlic can be added also. I have subbed olive oil for the pork fat with good results. Different but good.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Horticultural Beans

so, I cooked up some chopped bacon with chopped onion. Took it out and drained the pan. Then I added the Cranberry beans and water to cover, adding water as it boiled off.

I drained them, put them in a bowl and sprinkled the chopped bacon on top.

They were YUMMMY!!! Enough for one. I had them for lunch. thanks all!
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We're experimenting with a few varieties of beans that look just like that...French Horticultural, Dragon's Tongue and Tongue of Fire. All short-season variations of cranberry beans, I think. I've used them dried in place of pintos. Last year I dried the mature beans for seed and made baked beans out of the shell beans. They were so creamy/buttery....yum. I canned a couple of pints with BBQ sauce. We had a jar the other night and they really do soak up the flavors.