Wednesday 25 June 2014

Cooking the first of the Broad Beans

A few days ago I harvested the first of my "Stereo" Broad Beans, and I want to describe here how we ate them.


Well, the first thing to say is that we did not eat JUST Broad Beans. I also used some of my "Red Duke of York" potatoes, and a batch of "Purple Top Milan" Turnips.


The veg was also to be accompanied by some Pork steaks, which I cooked quickly in a very hot griddle-pan:


When I trimmed the pork I kept the trimmings and cooked them slowly in a frying-pan so that all the fat ran out. I then used this fat to cook some onions over a very low heat for about 45 minutes, before adding some sliced Chestnut mushrooms and cooking for another 15 minutes or so:


I cooked the Broad Beans in a pan of boiling water, for about 2 or 3 minutes only, since they went tender very rapidly. Actually you can eat them raw if you want. I then added about 200ml of Elmlea (low-fat cream substitute) to the onions and mushrooms to make a creamy sauce, and tipped in the cooked beans.


To this was added a very large handful of chopped herbs.


I used Chives, Sage, Parsley, Oregano, Mint, Thyme and Winter Savory:


While all this was going on, I boiled the turnips until tender - about 10 minutes, I think. Since they were such young ones I didn't peel them, but simply halved them and cut out the stalks. I had boiled and drained the potatoes earlier and left them to cool a little. When everything was ready, I plated up:


It was fortunate that this dish was nice and tasty, because it didn't score many points for "Presentation"! I wish now that I had kept back a couple of sprigs of Parsley for a garnish. The potatoes split a bit, and the red skins had peeled back somewhat, so I think next time I will halve them before cooking, which will reduce this problem.


It was all nice to eat, but the tender young beans in that unctuous savoury sauce were undobtedly the stars of the show!

We'll be having plenty more Broad Beans soon (though never enough!), so I hope to be able to describe some other ways of cooking them...

10 comments:

  1. It's lovely to be able to cook a meal with nearly everything home grown.

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  2. Nothing wrong with the presentation Mark it looks like a wonderful meal, my first harvest will be served on Sunday with carrots & potatoes from the garden also along with some lamb. I'm hoping I have enough mint for the sauce if my sisters dog has left me with any!

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  3. Looks like a fine meal to me! Well done.

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  4. It has better presentation than most of my meals. I just toss mine on the plate. Even if I'm going to photograph them.

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  5. The presentation is very good, Mark, it's clearly and it includes all essential steps to follow your recipe :)
    In my family, we always eat broad beans boiled and then sprinkled with salt. We eat it as a snack, like peanuts or something.

    I like your recipe, I bet it was tasty :)

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  6. Your meal looks really good. I think I may have turnips ready to harvest soon. I've lots of herbs but I often forget to use them.

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  7. Good idea to add the broad beans to the cream sauce.I'll give it a try when mine bean up.Will soon be eating 10 a day veg meals from my plot.

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  8. Looks great and a good idea to add them to a sauce. I think they'd also be nice in a tomato pasta type sauce. Must pick mine soon!

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