Things have been very successful in the July 4th Garden. This last week I picked my tri-color beans. I love the great colors of yellow, purple and green. My favorite beans are the romano Italian beans. It is like having steak on a vine. They are thick and have great substance. Sauteed with olive oil when young finished with a glaze of butter and Parmesan… Mmm, mmm, mmm, nothing finer. In the July 4th Garden they would not be ready yet as they have a longer maturity rate and require substantial staking. Yes they are on the list for next year… Meanwhile back to the tri-color beans. Flavor is good and they have abundant harvest for a bush type bean. Easy to use in stir-fries, sautés, bean salads, or quick blanched for snacking with dips. It is weird that they all taste the same but look so different. Watching the dark purple beans change to bright green when cooked is also fun. When I first grew them years ago I was disappointed when the purple ones lost their color. It was a great way to get kids to eat vegetables – who wouldn’t want to eat purple beans?
I learned how to make dilly beans several years ago from a good friend. Mary always had a big garden and harvested beans by the hundreds. Dilly beans are great as a snack, on sandwiches, wrapped in ham, on an antipasto platter and yes as a swizzle stick in a bloody Mary. My fresh beans from the garden are perfect for the dilly bean recipe. The key is freshness so you can’t really use beans that are too old or too mature and colorful beans work great.
Dilly Beans
- 6 cups of water
- 1 cup pickling salt
- 6 cups distilled white vinegar
- 1 jar pickling spice
- 8 heads fresh dill weed
- 1/2 cup mustard seed
- 8 dried red chile peppers
- 16 cloves garlic peeled
- 1 teaspoon alum
- 5 pounds fresh green beans rinsed and trimmed to size
1. sterilize 8 1 pint jars and lids in boiling water for at least 5 minutes
2. combine the water pickling salt and vinegar in a large pot and bring to a boil When it begins to boil reduce heat to low and keep at a simmer while you pack the jars
3. in each jar place the following: 1 head of dill, 1 Tablespoon of pickling spice, 1 Tablespoon of mustard seed, 1 dried chile pepper, 2 cloves of garlic and 1/8 tsp of alum. pack beans into the spiced jars in a standing position.
4. ladle the hot brine into jars, leaving 1/2 inch of space at the top. Screw the lids onto the jars, and process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes to seal. Store for at least 2 weeks before eating.
