Cooking Archives - Page 320 of 566 - Garden Seeds and Honey Bees

Growing Fava Beans

This year was a first for me growing fava Beans or Broad Beans. Basically I amended the soil and dug my furrows and planted my fava bean seeds about 4 inches apart and planted 2 rows, each row about 13 feet long. I watered them every day for about 10 minutes in morning and ten minutes in the evening until the seeds sprouted. Then every 3 days or so, depending on the heat of the summer. I planted them the first part of June, I know I was late planting but that’s the time I got around to plant. I’m just beginning to harvest them in late July.

They have been very easy to take care of no bugs or disease so far and my green bush beans are planted next to them and are attaching themselves to my fava bean plants.

Fava beans taste like green peas and are yummy in salads, dips and roasted.

See below how to remove skins or casings on the fava beans.

Growing Fava Beans

Below are to methods of removing the skins or casings on the fava beans. I found the blanching method to be the fastest and easiest.

Growing Fava Beans

Blanching Fava Beans

In a sauce pot filled with enough water to cover your fava beans (fava beans removed from pods). Then on medium heat bring them to a boil for 2-3 minutes and try to remove skin on one fava bean, if the skin doesn’t remove easily cook another minute or so…

Drain the water or use a spider strainer (Bambo Skimmer) to scoop out the beans, place them in a bowl of ice water to cool them down quickly and then remove their skins and discard skins. Use them in salads, humus type dip or soups and etc…

Tip: Freeze blanched fava beans in the freezer in a labeled/dated pint size freezer bag filled 3/4 full with air removed from filled bags. (I use a straw for removing the air in the filled bags) use them within 6 months to a year.

Growing Fava Beans

Flash Freezing Fava Beans

Remove fava beans from their pods and place on a quarter baking sheet and place them in the freezer for 30- 40 minutes. Then remove them from the freeze and allow them to thaw about 10-15 minutes. Then remove the outer skin, use in recipes like salads, soups, roasted or enjoy eating them fresh or smashed making a fava type humus dip for breads, crackers and…

Growing Fava Beans

Happy Gardening!

Lindy

Lemon Mini Meringue Cookie Toppers

I know toppers probably really isn’t an official dictionary word, but I thought it was the perfect for the tops of these cute tarts.

Lemon Mini Meringue Cookie Toppers

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Supplies needed:

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*Double Boiler

*Hand or Stand Mixer

*Pastry Bag with Tip (I used 2D )

* Parchment Paper

*2 Half Baking Sheets

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Lemon Meringue Ingredients:

*3 Egg Whites

*1/4 cup Granulated Sugar

*Dash Sea Salt

*Dash Cream of Tartar

*Zest of 1 Lemon

*Yellow Food Coloring Gel, 4 drops or as desired

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Instructions:

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Whisk egg whites and sugar slightly in a small glass bowl. Then place the bowl that will fit nicely over a sauce pan. Adding water to the sauce pan about 1/4-1/3 full of water making sure that the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl, making a double boiler. You can use a ready-made double boiler.

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Place sauce pan over medium-low heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes not to exceed 150*F. Stirring until sugar is completely dissolved.

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Remove bowl and mix the egg white mixture, add the cream of tartar, salt and beat on high-speed with hand mixer or stand mixer (make sure if using a stand mixing bowl is clean with no residue of oils etc… (Hint: Rub a half cut lemon to clean the bowl by rubbing it around the inside of bowl.) using the whisk attachment, about 8-10 minutes until the meringue is glossy and forms stiff peaks.

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Gently fold in the lemon zest and food coloring.

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Using a pastry bag with a drop flower tip 2D. I place the point of pastry bag with tip into a tall glass and fold the large open end of the bag over the edge of the rim of the glass. Then spoon in the meringue mixture into the bag about and fill about 2/3 full. Remove the filled bag from the glass and twist the open end closed. Then on 2 pieces of parchment paper on the half asking sheets, pipe meringue dots by pressing the tip to the parchment paper and squeezing at the top of the bag, making the size of meringue cookies/toppers desired.

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Bake the meringue cookies at 200*F. for 1 hour or more (more because humidity is different depending on where you live and the weather) until crisp. Baking them low and slow is important. After baking allow the cookies to cool on the parchment paper on baking sheet before removing.

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Note: I had 2 ovens to bake them in, I’ve never tried baking the 2 pans in one oven, so if you do this baking could take longer.

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The quantity of cookies depends on the size of meringue cookie you pipe. I made about 1-1 1/2 inch mini cookie toppers for my mini lemon tarts. Making around 170 cookie toppers.

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Store cookie toppers in an airtight container for up to 1-2 weeks.

Recipe Source Jen’s Favorite Cookies

Lemon Mini Meringue Cookie Toppers