Can anyone tell me which variety of fava beans have the biggest beans in the pod? I have checked out the Aquadulce and the Windsor beans and neither site tells me how big the bean acutally is. I appreciate any advice or suggestions.
Fava Bean question
Never mind, found my answer.
Weegy, I've only grown Windsor and Crimson Flowered, with Windsor being the bigger of the two. What did you find out, which is the bigger,Windsor or Aquadulce?
Shoe
Thank you shoe. I found that from where we ordered the seeds, that the Windsor was the biggest one...if I can remember correctly, the pod is 6 to 8 inches long with 5 or more beans. Is the Windsor a short growing plant or a tall one? My dh's uncle grows a short variety and his beans are huge, he doesn't know the name of them...sure wish he did. I've bought fava beans at the store and they are so tiny...hardly worth the trouble.
Another question, how do you prepare your fava beans? We do them 3 different ways...we boil them with an onion, eat them just like that...we boil them, let them cool and do like a bean salad with vinegar, olive oil, parsley and onion and of course seasoned with salt and pepper...the 3rd way is, we boil them and then make a sort of stew with them with linguica (Portuguese sausage...dh is Portuguese.) I like them all but my favorites are the stew and the cold bean salad.
Thanks again.
Morning...
Windsor is tall growing, if I remember correctly they grew one Winter about 3-and-a-half to nearly 4 ft tall. I grew them in two double-rows and put tall stakes on all four corners, then ran twine around the outside of the plants to help support them on windy days. It worked great!
Not only were the beans a delicious treat (and the plants providing N for the soil) but the tips of the plants were tasty as well in a quick stir-fry or lightly steamed (with butter, S&P, of course!).
For the beans, I cooked them similar to how I cook butter beans... melt butter in a pot, throw in some cut up onions (a clove of garlic won't hurt either!) add the beans and stir them around in the now-flavored butter, then add water (about two inches higher than the beans).
At the time I wasn't aware that most Europeans skinned their favas before eating them or adding them to certain dishes. I had no problem with some of them having the thicker skins.
Your stew w/the Portuguese sausage sounds delish. A friend of mine used to make a Portuguese dish called "bigos", (sausage and several other kinds of meat). I bet your hubby knows of that; bet it would be good with fava beans added to it!
I think you should get some of your uncle's fava bean seeds. Those sound like a keeper to me!
Shoe
"Fava beans and a nice chianti..." So "Silence of The Lambs," I've not been inclined 2 grow or eat them...