Zeedman
Garden Master
Two days ago, I decided to experiment with some of my old "SHTF" beans, to determine how edible they really were. I soaked some 2012 Cave Dweller Black limas over-night; most of the seeds remained hard, and didn't expand much. So I boiled them for about 30 minutes; they became flexible, but still didn't expand much. I turned off the heat, and allowed them to soak until completely cool - about 3 hours. At that point most of the beans had expanded, there were no remaining hard seeds - and they remained completely black. The pound of dry limas became about two quarts of cooked beans.
Last night I used about 2 cups of the cooked limas, to make my version of succotash. I added an equal measure of last year's cut sweet corn, about a cup each of chopped celery & chopped ripe sweet peppers, and butter, salt, and pepper to taste. DW & I both enjoyed it; a pleasant departure from the same-old vegetables, and we'll finish it off this week. And probably as a result of the long cooking/soaking time, there were no unpleasant gastronomical issues. The rest of the cooked limas have been frozen for future use. It was reassuring to find that the old beans we have been storing are still useful.
Last night I used about 2 cups of the cooked limas, to make my version of succotash. I added an equal measure of last year's cut sweet corn, about a cup each of chopped celery & chopped ripe sweet peppers, and butter, salt, and pepper to taste. DW & I both enjoyed it; a pleasant departure from the same-old vegetables, and we'll finish it off this week. And probably as a result of the long cooking/soaking time, there were no unpleasant gastronomical issues. The rest of the cooked limas have been frozen for future use. It was reassuring to find that the old beans we have been storing are still useful.
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