On Wed, 03 Sep 2014 09:13:42 -0400, Nancy Young
> wrote:
> On 9/3/2014 8:28 AM, wrote:
> > On Wed, 03 Sep 2014 07:54:59 -0400, Nancy Young
> > > wrote:
>
> >> Speaking of overdoing vegetables, last week I grabbed a basket
> >> of fresh limas. I love them cooked and then sauteed in some
> >> butter. They are a bear to get out of the pods.
> >>
> >> First recipe Ron looked up said to boil them for an hour.
> >> What?! The biggest ones are maybe an inch across, how long
> >> can it take? Next recipe, boil them for a half hour.
> >>
> >> Any fresh lima bean cookers out there? Is cooking limas
> >> to mush the traditional way or something?
>
> > It seems not many people like limas, I love them but have never seen
> > them fresh here. I buy a bag of frozen ones, Green Giant the only
> > ones, and they are quite nice.
>
> I like lima beans.
>
> I really don't see them fresh, hardly ever, then mostly at
> the farmer's market or stand. When I see them, I grab them.
> Like anything else, it's somewhat different from the ones you
> buy frozen, being fresh from the field.
>
> > Cook an hour ????
>
> Right? I laughed out loud. Then he said OK, two more recipes
> say a half hour. I said Are they cooking them in the pod? I
> didn't get it.
>
> So, he surprised me later with beans he only cooked for 25
> minutes since I objected to even a half hour. A rare fail for
> him, these poor beans were falling apart mushy. I thought maybe
> people traditionally like them cooked to death, the way they
> sometimes cook those poor green beans?
>
I have a feeling those long cooking recipes begin with dried lima
beans, not fresh. If you have more beans to experiment with, I'd
start by steaming them for a few minutes and adding time if necessary.
This recipe has you boil them 5-8 minutes, but I don't see why
steaming them for the same amount of time wouldn't work.
http://wegottaeat.com/wegottaeat/rec...ans-with-thyme
This one says 20 minutes, but succotash is supposed to be mushy
http://southernfood.about.com/od/lim.../r/blbb431.htm
Martha Stewart says to blanch them for her salad, so you've got an
entire range of cooking times to work with for fresh lima beans.
http://www.marthastewart.com/317446/...p.gvldPPIpPtXC
--
Avoid cutting yourself when slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them.