Kitchen Garden Forum

I've got a few aquadulce broad bean plants, ones that have survived waterlogging, aphid and weevil and, almost unbelievably, they have produced some reasonable looking pods. Quite why I've grown them I don't know, I hated them as a child and haven't tried them since! So, what I'd really, really like are a few ideas of what on earth I can do with them that won't actually make me gag - 'cos I used to according to my Dad!
Can they be cooked whole when small, maybe, to avoid that 'metallic' taste I vaguely remember?

Hi Jude,
Many years ago I had difficulty with my children gagging on Braod Beans and realized that it was the tough skins that was causing this. So once cooked
I used to remove the skins and mash them up with Butter and a pretense of Salt and Pepper and they really look like Mushy Peas without the mushiness. These went down a treat with my chidren but the only trouble is they are now getting on a bit and all left home many moons ago I still have to do the same
now when they visit.

Hi Jude,
cooked as Johnboy says and skinned they made a really good addition to a green salad and particularly compliment bits of crispy bacon.
I can remember my Gran telling me that she used to have to sit and skin bowls full of cooked broadies when she was a kitchen maid before World War1 in a big London house,the upstairs people wouldn't eat the skins!

My OH and I both hated Broad Beans - until we grew our own. Now they're in our top ten.

I suggest you pick them when they're young. Boil them and remove the outer skin (although you hardly need to if they're young and fresh), Then you can puree them, as JB suggests - lovely with lots of butter and black pepper. Or you can add them to new potatoes and mayonnaise for a warm salad. Or to garlic, onoins and green beens with French dressing (warm or cold). They're lovely with boiled ham and a creamy/chees sauce.

Shall I go on?...........

I agree, skinning them is the way to go, blanch for a minute then cool. I pinch a hole with a thumb nail, then squeeze out the little beanlet. Be warned they do make any dead skin and nail go black. I quite often do large batches in front of the telly, then we eat some and I freeze the rest. They will need a couple of minutes more cooking for most peoples taste.

Brilliant in an omelette with goats cheese (one of those felicitous combinations that is somehow more than the sum of the parts).

With steamed, sliced courgettes and roasted red peppers in a balsamic vinaigrette.

Pureed with roast garlic and fromage frais or creme fraiche, or cream and lemon juice.

i LIKE TO BOIL BROAD BEANS IN NON-SALTED WATER UNTIL TENDER THEN ADD TO A FRYING PAN WITH BACON, ONION AND NEW POTATOES. IT MAKES A LOVELY TASTY LUNCH AFTER A HARD MORNING IN THE GARDEN !

Thanks for all the ideas everyone.

Well, we've now had two lots of broad beans having blanched and removed the skins and they were DELICIOUS Thanks everyone, I am well and truly happy to have got over my phobia and to know that I haven't passed it on to my own daughter, loved my Mum dearly and she was an inspired cook but she clearly had never tasted broad beans as they should be!
Beccy, my right thumb is almost entirely black now due to beans and a clumsy accident with a copper and hide mallet and a piece of angle iron.
Carole, your recipe is simple and superb - not often I get asked for second helpings by my 8 year old!
PS. When you see how thick and leathery the skins are it's not surprising that they used to make me gag!

That's a result then! If you need a few more ideas, may I suggest you search the recipe index on UK TV Food where you will discover a number of fresh ideas for broad beans and other traditional vegetables.

Well I did warn you

Our dogs go mad for the skins, we can use them as 'training treats', though usually I just put the skins in their supper. They really do have some very odd tastes, but that one beats me

Beccy, wouldn't mind betting that they come out the other end looking exactly the same

Jude, despite being so tough they don't. Sigh, that's what I ought to be doing now...the trouble with having a densly planted garden with no lawn is they don't have many places they can go, and those soon get used.