Passed a farm stand today and bought some fresh fava beans in their
shells for the first time. I've never prepared them at home, only
eaten them in restaurants. I think I'll try making risotto for the
very first time ever and add the favas to it. <biting nails>

--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

sf wrote:

> Passed a farm stand today and bought some fresh fava beans in their
> shells for the first time. I've never prepared them at home, only
> eaten them in restaurants. I think I'll try making risotto for the
> very first time ever and add the favas to it. <biting nails>

How much did you buy? Only about 5% of a fava bean in the shell is actually
eaten; the outer shell and the inner skins get thrown away. Risotto sounds
like a very good use for them.

Bob

In article >,
sf > wrote:

> Passed a farm stand today and bought some fresh fava beans in their
> shells for the first time. I've never prepared them at home, only
> eaten them in restaurants. I think I'll try making risotto for the
> very first time ever and add the favas to it. <biting nails>

Favor beans can be used just like lima beans.

sf wrote:
> Passed a farm stand today and bought some fresh fava beans in their
> shells for the first time. I've never prepared them at home, only
> eaten them in restaurants. I think I'll try making risotto for the
> very first time ever and add the favas to it. <biting nails>

A wonderful Middle Eastern dish is to have a pile of cooked fava beans
served in the center of a plate of humus - delicious.

-S-

Bob Terwilliger > wrote:

>sf wrote:

>> Passed a farm stand today and bought some fresh fava beans in their
>> shells for the first time. I've never prepared them at home, only
>> eaten them in restaurants. I think I'll try making risotto for the
>> very first time ever and add the favas to it. <biting nails>

>How much did you buy? Only about 5% of a fava bean in the shell is actually
>eaten; the outer shell and the inner skins get thrown away. Risotto sounds
>like a very good use for them.

Actually it's not absolutely true that the outer shells and skins
are thrown away; sometimes the very young beans are cooked up whole.
(Batter-fried for example). But they gotta be small, only two
to three inches total length.

Steve

Steve wrote on Sat, 22 May 2010 11:21:10 -0400:

> sf wrote:
>> Passed a farm stand today and bought some fresh fava beans in
>> their shells for the first time. I've never prepared them at
>> home, only eaten them in restaurants. I think I'll try
>> making risotto for the very first time ever and add the favas
>> to it. <biting nails>

> A wonderful Middle Eastern dish is to have a pile of cooked
> fava beans served in the center of a plate of humus -
> delicious.

As someone who has never tried fresh fava beans, do you eat the pods
too? The prices the stores charge would make eating the beans alone
expensive.


--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

sf wrote:
>
> Passed a farm stand today and bought some fresh fava beans in their
> shells for the first time. I've never prepared them at home, only
> eaten them in restaurants. I think I'll try making risotto for the
> very first time ever and add the favas to it. <biting nails>

Some people can get ill from eating fava beans.
I used to have a neighbor who had this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Favism

"Mark Thorson" > ha scritto nel messaggio
> sf wrote:
>>
>> Passed a farm stand today and bought some fresh fava beans in their>>
>> shells for the first time. I've never prepared them at home, only>>
>> eaten them in restaurants.

> Some people can get ill from eating fava beans.
> I used to have a neighbor who had this.

All the shops and supermarkets have signs at the front warning that there
are fave around, because apparently even getting near them is a problem.

Giusi wrote:
>
> "Mark Thorson" > ha scritto nel messaggio
> > sf wrote:
> >>
> >> Passed a farm stand today and bought some fresh fava beans in their>>
> >> shells for the first time. I've never prepared them at home, only>>
> >> eaten them in restaurants.
>
> > Some people can get ill from eating fava beans.
> > I used to have a neighbor who had this.
>
> All the shops and supermarkets have signs at the front warning that there
> are fave around, because apparently even getting near them is a problem.

I've never seen a sign like that. The molecules
that cause favism aren't volatile at all,
so I don't think there's a problem with being
near them. My neighbor used to raise fava beans,
he just didn't eat them.

"Mark Thorson" > ha scritto nel messaggio
...
> Giusi wrote:
>> > Some people can get ill from eating fava beans.
>> > I used to have a neighbor who had this.
>>
>> All the shops and supermarkets have signs at the front warning that there
>> are fave around, because apparently even getting near them is a problem.
>
> I've never seen a sign like that. The molecules
> that cause favism aren't volatile at all,
> so I don't think there's a problem with being
> near them. My neighbor used to raise fava beans,
> he just didn't eat them.

Then either the entire Italian country is wrong, or there is another allergy
problem of which you know nothing.

On Sat, 22 May 2010 09:22:25 -0400, Stan Horwitz >
wrote:

> In article >,
> sf > wrote:
>
> > Passed a farm stand today and bought some fresh fava beans in their
> > shells for the first time. I've never prepared them at home, only
> > eaten them in restaurants. I think I'll try making risotto for the
> > very first time ever and add the favas to it. <biting nails>
>
> Favor beans can be used just like lima beans.

That's no help. I've never cooked limas fresh from the pod either.
In any case, I know what dish I'm making - just not how long to cook
them.

--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

On Sat, 22 May 2010 09:46:06 -0700, Mark Thorson >
wrote:

> sf wrote:
> >
> > Passed a farm stand today and bought some fresh fava beans in their
> > shells for the first time. I've never prepared them at home, only
> > eaten them in restaurants. I think I'll try making risotto for the
> > very first time ever and add the favas to it. <biting nails>
>
> Some people can get ill from eating fava beans.
> I used to have a neighbor who had this.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Favism

I've eaten them before (restaurants) with no problem.

--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

Janet Baraclough > wrote:

>from "James Silverton" > contains these words:

>> As someone who has never tried fresh fava beans, do you eat the pods
>> too? The prices the stores charge would make eating the beans alone
>> expensive.

>If you grow your own you can cook and eat tiny pods whole ; but the
>immature beans inside are tiny.

Yep, or if the local farmers will harvest them that soon.
They usually don't, except by request from some restaurants.

>Otherwise, you remove the pods. They are expensive to buy fresh by
>weight because of the wastage, but cheap and easy to grow.
>Cheaper to buy frozen ones, where you're only paying for the beans.

I find it time consuming to shell them. When I do manage to do it,
I remove the beans from the pod, boil them about 8 minuts, then
let them cool and remove the outer bean-skins. Then they are
ready to be made into fava bean spread (olive oil, sea salt,
finely chopped mint, and a tiny amount of white wine vinegar...
be careful, as fresh favas have a delicate flavor and it's
easy to overwhelm them with lemon juice or too much vinegar).

Steve

James Silverton wrote:
>
> As someone who has never tried fresh fava beans, do you eat the pods
> too? The prices the stores charge would make eating the beans alone
> expensive.

No, you don't eat the pods. There's also an inner hull that can be eaten
on fresh spring favas, because it's fairly tender, but it needs to be
removed later in the season.

We got some really good ones in the farm box recently.

Serene

--
"I tend to come down on the side of autonomy. Once people are grown up,
I believe they have the right to go to hell in the handbasket of their
choosing." -- Pat Kight, on alt.polyamory

sf wrote on Sat, 22 May 2010 11:32:21 -0700:

>> In article >,
>> sf > wrote:
>>
> >> Passed a farm stand today and bought some fresh fava beans
> >> in their shells for the first time. I've never prepared
> >> them at home, only eaten them in restaurants. I think I'll
> >> try making risotto for the very first time ever and add the
> >> favas to it. <biting nails>
>>
>> Favor beans can be used just like lima beans.

> That's no help. I've never cooked limas fresh from the pod
> either. In any case, I know what dish I'm making - just not
> how long to cook them.

IMHO, frozen limas are just fine but I've never tried frozen favas. I'll
have to look out for them.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

On Sat, 22 May 2010 15:45:10 -0400, "James Silverton"
> wrote:

> sf wrote on Sat, 22 May 2010 11:32:21 -0700:
>
> >> In article >,
> >> sf > wrote:
> >>
> > >> Passed a farm stand today and bought some fresh fava beans
> > >> in their shells for the first time. I've never prepared
> > >> them at home, only eaten them in restaurants. I think I'll
> > >> try making risotto for the very first time ever and add the
> > >> favas to it. <biting nails>
> >>
> >> Favor beans can be used just like lima beans.
>
> > That's no help. I've never cooked limas fresh from the pod
> > either. In any case, I know what dish I'm making - just not
> > how long to cook them.
>
> IMHO, frozen limas are just fine but I've never tried frozen favas. I'll
> have to look out for them.

OK, I'll give up on getting anything worthwhile from you two.

--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

sf wrote:

> That's no help. I've never cooked limas fresh from the pod either.
> In any case, I know what dish I'm making - just not how long to cook
> them.

Oh, I can help with that: After you've removed the beans from the shells,
parboil them for about one minute. Allow them to cool a bit, then slip the
inner bean out of the skin. Add them to cooking risotto about 5-10 minutes
before the rice is done. (The variable time is because I don't know how big
the beans are, and larger beans take longer to cook. But once they're out of
the inner skin, they don't need much more cooking at all.)

You *will* be adding a bunch of grated parmesan right after it comes off the
heat, right?

Bob

Bob Terwilliger > wrote:

> After you've removed the beans from the shells, parboil them
> for about one minute. Allow them to cool a bit, then slip the
> inner bean out of the skin. Add them to cooking risotto about
> 5-10 minutes before the rice is done. (The variable time is
> because I don't know how big the beans are, and larger beans
> take longer to cook. But once they're out of the inner skin,
> they don't need much more cooking at all.)

That correlates with my experience of fresh favas taking about 8 minutes
to cook to tenderness.

> You *will* be adding a bunch of grated parmesan right after it
> comes off the heat, right?

I frequently make risotto without cheese. Comes out fine.

(And I never ever use chicken broth. Thought I'd gratuitously
throw that in....)


Steve

Steve wrote:

>> You *will* be adding a bunch of grated parmesan right after it
>> comes off the heat, right?
>
> I frequently make risotto without cheese. Comes out fine.

True, but parmesan and fava beans go together wonderfully. That's why I
mentioned it.

Bob

On Sat, 22 May 2010 19:19:26 -0700, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:

>Steve wrote:
>
>>> You *will* be adding a bunch of grated parmesan right after it
>>> comes off the heat, right?
>>
>> I frequently make risotto without cheese. Comes out fine.
>
>True, but parmesan and fava beans go together wonderfully. That's why I
>mentioned it.
>
>Bob

And Pecorino. Fava beans and Pecorino are a classic combo in
Italy..at least from what I have read from Frances Mayes in her
wonderful books on Tuscany.

I think she mentions young pecorino, though...not sure how easy that
is to get.

Christine

Christine Dabney > wrote:

>On Sat, 22 May 2010 19:19:26 -0700, "Bob Terwilliger"

>>True, but parmesan and fava beans go together wonderfully. That's why I
>>mentioned it.

Ah, thanks.

>And Pecorino. Fava beans and Pecorino are a classic combo in
>Italy..at least from what I have read from Frances Mayes in her
>wonderful books on Tuscany.
>
>I think she mentions young pecorino, though...not sure how easy that
>is to get.

If it's too young, and it is raw, the U.S. probably does not let
it in. However there are plenty of "table pecorinos" (as opposed
to grating pecorinos) available.

Steve

On Sat, 22 May 2010 20:21:55 -0600, Christine Dabney
> wrote:

> And Pecorino. Fava beans and Pecorino are a classic combo in
> Italy..at least from what I have read from Frances Mayes in her
> wonderful books on Tuscany.
>
> I think she mentions young pecorino, though...not sure how easy that
> is to get.

Although it's my favorite, I don't have any pecorino on hand. I do
have parmesan and that's what I'll use.

--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

On 2010-05-22 18:33:03 -0700, Steve Pope said:

> And I never ever use chicken broth. Thought I'd gratuitously
> throw that in...

What do you use instead; just water?

On 2010-05-22 11:35:22 -0700, sf said:

I love to eat the fried/salted broad beans, pre-packaged from any
number of companies. I get them in the Japanese stores and have a small
serving of them with cocktails.

I note that somehow or other I got a bag of dried broad beans in the
pantry. I ought do something with those.

gtr > wrote:

>> And I never ever use chicken broth. Thought I'd gratuitously
>> throw that in...

>What do you use instead; just water?

Water and vegetable stock. (We brew out vegetable stock pretty
strong, so we don't want to use it straight.)

Steve

Steve wrote on Sun, 23 May 2010 17:15:54 +0000 (UTC):

>>> And I never ever use chicken broth. Thought I'd
>>> gratuitously throw that in...

>> What do you use instead; just water?

> Water and vegetable stock. (We brew out vegetable stock
> pretty strong, so we don't want to use it straight.)

I'm not really interested in dried beans of any type but I have looked
very carefully for frozen fava beans and been unable to find them. Do
they really exist and, if so, what sort of store should I look at?

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

On Sun, 23 May 2010 13:28:07 -0400, "James Silverton"
> wrote:


>I'm not really interested in dried beans of any type but I have looked
>very carefully for frozen fava beans and been unable to find them. Do
>they really exist and, if so, what sort of store should I look at?

I have seen them in Whole Foods.

Christine

James Silverton > wrote:

> Steve wrote on Sun, 23 May 2010 17:15:54 +0000 (UTC):

>>>> And I never ever use chicken broth. Thought I'd
>>>> gratuitously throw that in...

>>> What do you use instead; just water?
>
>> Water and vegetable stock. (We brew out vegetable stock
>> pretty strong, so we don't want to use it straight.)

>I'm not really interested in dried beans of any type but I have looked
>very carefully for frozen fava beans and been unable to find them. Do
>they really exist and, if so, what sort of store should I look at?

I've never seen or used them either. They come fresh, dried,
and in cans which as mostly cooked from dried, but sometimes canned
fresh. (I've made fava bean dip from the latter and it is
not a totally bad way to go.)

Steve

Christine wrote on Sun, 23 May 2010 11:46:07 -0600:

>> I'm not really interested in dried beans of any type but I
>> have looked very carefully for frozen fava beans and been
>> unable to find them. Do they really exist and, if so, what
>> sort of store should I look at?

> I have seen them in Whole Foods.

Thanks, I'll look next time I'm there.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

Janet wrote on Mon, 24 May 2010 00:28:31 +0100:

>> I'm not really interested in dried beans of any type but I
>> have looked very carefully for frozen fava beans and been
>> unable to find them. Do they really exist and, if so, what
>> sort of store should I look at?

> Here in the UK, you can buy them in the frozen vegetable
> section of most supermarkets. Next to the peas and greenbeans.
> Labelled broadbeans.

Well, I've tried Fresh Fields and Trader Joes' and neither has frozen
fava beans and I suspect I'l never get to try them :-)


--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

Stan Horwitz wrote:
> In article >,
> sf > wrote:
>
>> Passed a farm stand today and bought some fresh fava beans in their
>> shells for the first time. I've never prepared them at home, only
>> eaten them in restaurants. I think I'll try making risotto for the
>> very first time ever and add the favas to it. <biting nails>
>
> Favor beans can be used just like lima beans.

I think someone should add that they don't taste _all_ that different
from lima beans, at least if I remember correctly. I don't think I've
had fava beans in about 20 years.

-S-

Steve wrote on Sun, 23 May 2010 21:22:42 -0400:

> Stan Horwitz wrote:
>> In article >,
>> sf > wrote:
>>
>>> Passed a farm stand today and bought some fresh fava beans
>>> in their shells for the first time. I've never prepared
>>> them at home, only eaten them in restaurants. I think I'll try
>>> making risotto for the very first time ever and add the favas to it.
>>> <biting nails>
>>
>> Favor beans can be used just like lima beans.

> I think someone should add that they don't taste _all_ that
> different from lima beans, at least if I remember correctly. I
> don't think I've had fava beans in about 20 years.

That's a minor consolation since, unlike even some members of my
immediate family, I like lima beans.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

James Silverton wrote:
>
> Janet wrote on Mon, 24 May 2010 00:28:31 +0100:
>
> >> I'm not really interested in dried beans of any type but I
> >> have looked very carefully for frozen fava beans and been
> >> unable to find them. Do they really exist and, if so, what
> >> sort of store should I look at?
>
> > Here in the UK, you can buy them in the frozen vegetable
> > section of most supermarkets. Next to the peas and greenbeans.
> > Labelled broadbeans.
>
> Well, I've tried Fresh Fields and Trader Joes' and neither has frozen
> fava beans and I suspect I'l never get to try them :-)
>
> --
>
Perhaps you might have better luck at either an Italian shop or a Middle
Eastern shop?