beans dried in yellow pod. and eaten as such?

[hortusbrambonii]

I did receive from a seedswap last week some rare heirloom 'kloosterholtjes' beans; which appears to be a an ungooglable race of local heirloom bushbeans, originating from Groningen (a province in the Netherlands), with quite ordinary white seeds and if I understand well not-so special green pods.
So not that spectacular at all. But what made me interested was the tradition of how it's eatenBut the way in which it is eaten is something I hadn't heard of: it's a drying bean, but dried early, when to pod turn yellow. What's eaten is not the beans dry beans themselves, but the dried pods as a whole broken into pieces and used in traditional recipes. The person who sent them to me said that the older generation is still very enthousiastic about them, but they are getting rare. She was looking for a pole version that some other gardener had (and that might even be more rare evane), and said that 'Hinrichs Riesen' can be used in the same way too.

(I wonder if the seeds are mature enough then to plant though if dried in that way, I suppose not actually...)

Anyone who knows more about this way of eating beans?

[mickey]

Me grandpa strung green beans on a cord and let them dry. He called them "Leather Britches, beans" google that it may give you more information on what your looking for.

Leather Britches, beans
www.google.com/search?q=Leather+Britches,+beans&espv=210&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&imgil=47Rq6WLrBV_v6M%253A%253Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fencrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com%252Fimages%253Fq%253Dtbn%253AANd9GcR_3A3EBBF7fbYjQLWWARztrXfCbTNGV90Ose9la5I9UE3CaJIZ%253B400%253B725%253Bz3Rxb70kxbXHiM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.blindpigandtheacorn.com%25252Fblind_pig_the_acorn%25252F2009%25252F08%25252Fhow-to-make-leather-breeches-dried-green-beans.html&source=iu&usg=__4gepLyBerKWsCtmArlhRWS2cdUQ%3D&sa=X&ei=ZErpUr3TJcrIqwHMs4HgBw&ved=0CC4Q9QEwAQ&biw=640&bih=431#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=47Rq6WLrBV_v6M%253A%3Bz3Rxb70kxbXHiM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.blindpigandtheacorn.com%252F.a%252F6a00e54ffe2ad388330120a57b8abd970c-400wi%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.blindpigandtheacorn.com%252Fblind_pig_the_acorn%252F2009%252F08%252Fhow-to-make-leather-breeches-dried-green-beans.html%3B400%3B725

[ferdzy]

Bram, I had never heard of that until I saw this seed listing:

www.heritageharvestseed.com/beansrs.html#steevescaseknife

I think that may pull up the whole page, so the bean you are looking at is Steeve's Caseknife. It doesn't say much about it, just that the beans were dried and cooked in their cases. This is the first time I have heard of such a thing, so I don't think it can have been a common thing. But I really don't know. I do know that at one point it WAS common to dry immature (green) beans to reconstitute as a vegetable in the winter. I think they were split along the seam for better drying, and were sometimes called "leather britches".

[steev]

Never heard of steeve's caseknife; must have been an imposter.

[oxbowfarm]

I've never tried making leather britches, its a southern Appalachia thing. There's some good accounts of making and cooking with them in the older Foxfire books.

[Walk]

We do dehydrated "green" or snap beans. But we chop or slice them first and then steam blanch them very lightly to keep them tender and sweet. Without this step the enzymes and starches make the final product unpalatable. Decades ago I tried making leather britches by stringing up snap beans and letting them dry in a window. I think they were aptly named because when rehydrated they were about as delectable as eating shoe leather.

[steev]

I also tried making leather britches the old-fashioned way and found eating them too much work for too little enjoyment; think I'll give them another shot with the blanching.

[freeholder]

I imagine that if leatherbritches were all you had for vegetables in the middle of the winter, you'd eat them. It's just that we have so many more options right now, we can afford to turn up our noses at tough dried beans!

I wonder if any of the peas would make good 'leatherbritches?' (Peas grow better here than beans do.)

Kathleen

[steev]

I quite agree about the value of any food in times of limited options, and I'm pleased I don't have to resort to leatherbritches nor shoe-leather to get through Winter.

The use of snow peas or snap peas in this way is an interesting idea.

[12540dumont]

Well, I tried leather britches, and I tried blanching/putting in the dehydrator, and even freezing. Three thumbs down. It seems as a family, we'd just as soon let the beans dry and roll them in tortillas. I've been in California too long it seems. I haven't tried drying peas, other than for seed or soup. Darn it takes a lot of seeds to make soup!

Perhaps the variety of bean makes a difference in the drying?

[flowerweaver]

Nothing with that amount of moisture content can be air dried here without molding. I have no idea why since I live in an arid place. (Even slightly damp clothing will mildew overnight). About the only thing I can safely air dry is garlic with an oscillating fan going. I tried dehydrating green beans once in an electric food dehydrator and they molded, too. Otherwise, this sounds like an intriguing way of cooking beans, and a challenge to make palatable!

[DarJones]

You have to have a bean that was selected for making leather britches. Turkey Craw is the only one I have that was specifically for that use. They are pretty good if properly fixed. Also, Dilly Beans are a good food if a good variety is used to make them. Striped Bunch is the best heirloom bean for making Dilly Beans.

[steev]

Yeah, Dilly Beans are nice, same recipe with green cherry tomatoes is also.

[kyredneck]

Feb 4, 2014 1:41:55 GMT -5 DarJones said:

You have to have a bean that was selected for making leather britches. Turkey Craw is the only one I have that was specifically for that use. They are pretty good if properly fixed. Also, Dilly Beans are a good food if a good variety is used to make them. Striped Bunch is the best heirloom bean for making Dilly Beans.

Shuck beans is what they're called here and White Half Runner is by far preferred over others, with letting the mature full beany pods turn yellow on the vine before picking and drying. I've had some pretty good shuck beans before too, and I think how they're prepared prior to cooking is crucial, soaking and draining more than once being important. I've tried drying green beans in the dryer a long time ago and decided very quickly we much preferred canned green beans even over fresh or frozen. Canned beany green beans is what my clan loves.

[add]

hortusbrambonii...with the OP referring to a Netherlands variety in which the pod is dried when yellow I wonder if it's related to or possibly the same as Old Dutch White Half Runner bean which is almost certainly the very variety preferred in these parts for 'shucky beans'.

[add some more]

...I grew a 16' row of Tobacco Worm bean this year which flavor reminds me of 'top of the line' White Half Runner flavor, and I've been told/read that Tobacco Worm is an excellent choice for shuck beans. I intend to grow Tobacco Worm again next year and maybe I'll sacrifice some cannin' to dabble with some dryin'.

[DarJones]

You're late to the party kyredneck. Try Striped Bunch sometime. It is a true white half runner the way the old white half runner was colored. The difference is that the seed are colored like Ojo de Cabra instead of white. The bean shucks are translucent with a whitish cast over green and the plants are true half runners. The translucent white over green trait was the original characteristic of White Half Runner.