[Sca-cooks] Period Edamame

[Barbara Benson]

I sent this once, but did not see it appear. I hope that it does not
magically appear and make this a double post. I beg forgiveness if it
does.

Greetings,

So, the subject is a bit misleading, but it got some people's
attention I am sure.

This weekend I attended an all camping event and participate in a
culinary capacity in the Artisan's Row. It was great fun and I am
working on improving my skills in cooking in more primitive
conditions. (read not a full kitchen).

We stopped by our local farmer's market to pick up fresh bread and
veggies on the way out of town and I perused the odder offerings. They
had both fresh fava beans and fresh garbanzo beans available - so I
bought some of each to play with. The fava beans did not make it out
of the cooler except to be show and tell - but the garbanzo beans
participated in supper.

They come in pods that bear a strong resemblance to tiny green
eggplants with paper thin skin. You remove the pods and the pea itself
still has a white skin around it. Since it was an impulse pulse
purchase I did not have a game plan for preparing them so I decided to
go with terribly simple to get an idea of what they taste like.

I boiled up some salty water and blanched them for a bit (actually my
student did this, I was called off to herald court, but that is a long
story) and then just served them in a bowl. The skins slip off like
blanched almond skins. And my husband ate them skins and all.

They were very tasty and very much like the edamame that we get in
sushi bars. I would love to serve them at a feast - but do not know if
they would have been eaten this fresh. Most garbanzo bean recipes I
have come across involve cooking the ever loving crap out of them and
then mushing them. But possibly this is because they were frequently
dried.

The other difficulty would be that they are only very rarely
available. But while they were fresh - I would think they would have
eaten them. Has anyone ever played with them? I was wondering if I
could buy a bunch of them while they are here, blanch them and then
freeze them - just like the edamame that I get in the store? Any
thoughts on how this would work - and how long they would be good for?

Sorry for the lengthy babble on beans.

Glad Tidings,

--Serena da Riva