Dry and Shell Beans
The dry beans can be baked, or simply boiled to be used in soups, or on salads and rice. They can also be ground into flour for a quick-cooking thickener for casseroles and soups. A small amount of Bean flour also fortifies homemade breads. What we call shell beans, are eaten in the green pod stage in August. They are sometimes called Horticulture beans. They are starchy like fresh Lima beans, but have a milder flavor. They make wonderful succotash with sweet corn. Recipes vary, but similar amounts of corn and beans are cooked together, and seasoned with things like butter or cream, and salt pork or bacon. In late summer, fresh beans and sweet corn are used, and later on, whole dry corn and beans are soaked for hours before cooking. The taste will change as the corn and beans mature, but it can be made anytime by adding the soaking step once the corn or beans are dry.
