P.S. I found a video at the Rancho Gordo website about how to cook beans but since the ones I have are the BIG ones, I'm not sure of the cooktime, and I also saw a recipe using the giant beans in a savory tomato sauce but that just doesn't speak to me.

Unless they're super old and super dry, you don't need to soak beans for cooking. Soaking a long time until they just start to sprout, according to many, can make them more nutritious and easier to digest.

There are many schools of thought about the liquid. Avoid acids, alcohol and salt, which mess with the cooking process (though there are some differences of opinion there). The rest is for flavoring the carrier, rather than the beans themselves. When the beans are pretty much done, you can add your flavorings to cook with them and meld, as an alternative.

You can cook them using just about any method. I prefer slow cooker (they were invented for cooking beans) for slow, and oven for fast. Pressure cooker works, but best if you have a recipe or instructions for those particular beans. You can also boil them on the stove, but that's neither fast nor slow, and you'll need to stir them regularly.

Beans are bean seeds, so in theory, you could just plant a couple and hope. If you're after success, however, it would be better to sprout some (soak until they form a tendril) and put them first in plantable pots or other standard starting materials, then put the seedlings in the ground once they look like they're going to survive. .... I don't know why I know that, not being a big gardener. I probably did it and the memory isn't fully awake. Not all beans will sprout and grow, but many will.

Those look like Jack and the Beanstalk beans!

that bean in her mouth looks like she's smacking her lips with her tongue ...

While it's true that you should not add any acid (tomatoes, etc) before the beans are soft, it really is best to add salt at the beginning. I've done that for years and years, and also Cooks and Milk Street both recommend it because the flavor is so much better. Also, I save the rind from cheese and add that to the beans when I start cooking them.

And if you want to try to grow some, just plant them in the ground (though be certain that the growing season you have left is long enough for the beans to mature--probably longer than you think). I've been gardening for over 50 years and no gardener I know ever soaks bean seed of any type or starts them in pots. Totally unnecessary.

Just use Steve's method on the RG site. He has a video. Rolling boil 5-7 minutes uncovered, turn down to a simmer, add tsp salt, cover with cracked lid for aprox time on the package. (usually 30-40 minutes)

Gorgeous beans. Size of wine corks. Creamy like baby new potatoes. I do soak mine 4-12 hours, just to get the swelling going. Wakes them up and can be easier to digest if the embryo gets active.

They will double, sometimes triple, in size so I suggest cooking half the bag first time. Good many ways but I just used a simple lemon, garlic, herbs, good olive oil. Half a bag is a few side dishes for us. Warm or cold in salads.

Yes they will sprout and grow beans. Not sure what climate each bean needs. I belong to the RG BeanClub and have saved seed from each. Just planted last week so time will tell how well they do.

This was a nice side salad with RG lentils and puffed papadum. So fresh and such good individual flavor I've been trying all his beans prepared simply. (a few olives, sun-dried tomatoes)

No notes on the corona beans. I've tried to keep up with timing when I try a new to me RG bean. One of our favorites are the little Flagolettes. They also keep their shape when tender. Both cook faster than others after soaking.

Pressure cooker and the insta-pot also can do the job, but I have neither. I'm not in such a hurry and don't mind the watching. Rather not just guess.

Depends on your climate and rainy season to soak, or seed, in advance. I do all three. Peas, beans, squashes, cucumber, ...More often than not, I loose my first sowing if planted dry. Seeds are cheap. I can also check germination.

Thanks everyone!!! (I thought it was that woman's tongue for the longest time & it still looks like a tongue to me!!!) Great photo and helpful cooking info and good & helpful info about planting a few of the beans, too! Many thanks!!

It was a nicer picture to me when it was a bean.

Haven't you ever licked your lips?

I bought a package of those beans in my last order. I think for the first time cooking I'll keep it simple and serve as a side with an olive oil drizzle and freshly grated cheese.

Bean or tongue...kInd of odd either way, but I thought it was her tongue.

I haven't cooked that particular large bean. My FIL used to cook one often that had a Croatian name I can't spell, and I'm not sure if it was a nickname or an actual bean name anyway. DH isn't here right now to verify. He cooked them stove top and served with garlic, olive oil, parsley. He cooked pretty much everything with garlic, olive oil and parsley. ;0)

I've done the larger dried lima beans, and those as with all bean I've cooked, I've begun soaking them overnight in the refrigerator. It may not be necessary - I'm not sure - but I've found beans more easily digested when cold soaked and why change what works for us. Gas-less beans ;0) A creamy bean, I would soak chilled, cook stove top, add some salt somewhere into the cooking time and yes, garlic.

I do make a chilied pork recipe in the pressure cooker that uses dried pinto beans and those I don't soak. I haven't made it recently but seems like it goes from dried in the package to done in about 40 minutes.

I don't lick my lips like that, with my mouth agape like that . . looks like she's licking her teeth, actually.

I agree - it's looks more like lustful come on than than lip-smacking.

And I also prefer to soak dried legumes. When they're fresh, soaking & cooking doesn't take very long.

One type I don't soak is red lentils, which are hulled & cook very quickly.

I'd like to try those beans. I wonder if they'd grow here in FL?

It is a fun and kitsch logo that represents Steve's humble beginnings starting his company with a passion to offer unusual heirloom beans that may go extinct without his efforts.

Marcella Hazan and the Marcella Bean

Most of you know this story but one day I was going through our mail orders and stopped dead in my tracks. Marcella Hazan in Florida had a nice order of beans and a copy of my first book in the system. Could it be? No, it couldn’t possibly. And yet it was. I went back to my early days of learning how to cook and there were a few key books that really spoke to me. Marcella Hazan’s Classic Italian Cooking, volumes one and two, were my bibles. I had many fun dinner parties in my tiny Nob Hill apartment in San Francisco. I’d push the Murphy bed up and serve very simple dishes from Marcella’s books. Dominoes and jazz were also key elements for these dinners. Cocktails might have been around, too.

Marcella and I struck up an online friendship based on our love of beans and a talented Italian singer named Mina. We were both fans.

I eventually asked her what bean she missed the most from Italy and she immediately told me Sorana. We hunted high and low for it and finally found some seed. The first season was a disaster but I sent her the little we had. We saved the seed and tried again and this time we had a fine harvest but sadly, Marcella died before we could send her this new crop. I waited before approaching her husband, Victor, but I asked if we could name the bean Marcella. I wasn’t comfortable calling it Soriana as they should really be grown in Italy to have that name, much like French Tarbais beans really should be grown in Tarbes, France. I knew Marcella was firm in not endorsing products but this was different and Victor said that she would have loved to have a bean named after her. And now you have Marcellas.

I think about her all the time and I hope she knew just how many people she’s affected with her talent.

The Marcella bean is one of my favorites.

One year I ordered in December and received one of their calendars. That would probably be a source of consternation for some.

I planted a few last year and they all grew into large healthy plants. I will be planting some I did not eat this year !

Lucky You! I tried growing two kinds of giant beans and got prctically nothing. BUT, the Gordo has continued to hang-on all winter. I will be interested to see what happens this year.

I have been growing corona beans, even before the Corona pandemic.

Very easy to grow. Very satisfying to harvest.

Besides cooking bean recipes. I also enjoy making Corona hummus.

dcarch

I’m ready to make my order this year! Anyone else?

I already did make mine, and got my order. I love these beans.

I make a big pot of plain beans, drain, chill and freeze individually on a big sheet pan, and then use as much as is needed for future recipes.

Actually, you made me think.... did I use the last of the frozen ones???? Hmmmmm..... I'd better check.

I'm in the RG bean club so i have plenty but just used the club free shipping code for our favorite RoyalCorona and the little pale green Flagolet. Our go-to summer beans. Two of each and a bag of Italian black garbonzos.

-sleeve

I also like Corona beans. I cooked some last week in my pressure cooker, and I did do a quick soak first - simmer for a couple of minutes and then allow to sit covered for a couple of hours.

I added a sprig of rosemary (because I have so much of it in my yard) and some Italian sausages to the pot, and I cooked it for 9 minutes at pressure and then allowed the pressure to go down by itself. Eight minutes might have been enough, but the beans were not overcooked.

If I use rosemary again, I will put it in a mesh bag to make it easier to remove. All of the rosemary leaves came off of the stem, and so when I removed the stem, the stem was all I removed.

I cooked one cup of dried beans, and that only made two servings - I was expecting more. Kevin wanted more the next day, but they were all gone.

i'm always watching for new thngs to do with the beans, and what you did sounds goods. I like the idea of the spicy sausage in with the beans right away.

Last time I dumped in some leftover tomato sauce and about a 1/4 cup hot sauce... just because I didn't want to waste and.. what-the-heck. It was really good, and I have a jar in the freezer too.

I will be overwhelmed with Corona beans this year. The seedlings will be inground the next few days.

If you like beans, don't forget peanuts are beans. I always think all beans taste like beans, except peanuts. You can get fresh dried peanuts at H Mart.

dcarch

People who are allergic to peanuts are not necessarily allergic to beans, and so peanuts deserve to be considered as a different legume from beans. Not all legumes are beans.

I find that the taste of different beans varies significantly. I would never confuse garbanzos with Lima beans. I would not try to make split pea soup with black beans. You could, but the taste would be distinctly different.

Lars, I agree with you there are distinct flavor differences between all beans. I was trying to say is the difference between peanut and other beans is much greater.

dcarch

Gardeners make choices using their real estate available. We prefer fresh greens, carrots, beets, tomatoes, fresh peas/beans...all the squashes, winter/summer. Garlic. Cucumbers. But tomatoes have always been my main focus.

I prepfer to get my dried beans from Palouse and RG RanchoGordo.

RanchoGordo came today. Palouse i'll order next week for the season.