I realize this isn't the best place to post this, but it is a food NG and
the other food NG's have turned into nasty places to be so I no longer post
to most of them.

Anyway... Tonight I made chicken stew in the crockpot. I added fresh green
beans that had been cut into about 1/2" pieces. The recipe called for peas,
but we just got a list of Angela's current allergies. They have changed and
wouldn't you know, she is now allergic to peas, lentils and almonds! Some
of the other allergies went away, so that's good. But I digress.

I have done green beans in the crockpot before and they always came out
fine. Recipe said to cook for 8 hours on low. I made the recipe pretty
much as written, except I didn't add the 8 oz. of mushrooms. My pot was
very full at this point and Angela can be kind of iffy with mushrooms.
Sometimes she will eat them. Sometimes not. I don't think the omission of
mushrooms would make much difference. And then of course swapping the green
beans for the peas.

The problem? The beans didn't get done! They were so crunchy they were
practically raw. Now Angela loves green beans if they are plain raw, or if
they are cooked to death like canned ones. Or like fresh or frozen ones
that have been in the crockpot for 8 hours will normally be. But she won't
eat crisply cooked ones.

My stew cooked for more like 9 hours by the time we got home. Everything
else was perfect. Just the crunchy, squeaky green beans were off-putting.
I left the crockpot on while we were eating, hoping they'd cook more so
somebody would eat the leftovers.

Does anyone know why they wouldn't have cooked? All the other vegetables
(celery, carrot, potato, onion, corn) and the chicken cooked just fine. The
only thing I can figure is that it is late in the season and the beans might
have been tough. They were rather slender and didn't feel really tough to
the touch though.

Thanks!

Julie Bove > wrote:

: Anyway... Tonight I made chicken stew in the crockpot. I added fresh green
: beans that had been cut into about 1/2" pieces. The recipe called for peas,

: I have done green beans in the crockpot before and they always came out
: fine. Recipe said to cook for 8 hours on low. I made the recipe pretty
: much as written, except I didn't add the 8 oz. of mushrooms. My pot was
: very full at this point and Angela can be kind of iffy with mushrooms.
: Sometimes she will eat them. Sometimes not. I don't think the omission of
: mushrooms would make much difference. And then of course swapping the green
: beans for the peas.

: The problem? The beans didn't get done! They were so crunchy they were
: practically raw. Now Angela loves green beans if they are plain raw, or if
: they are cooked to death like canned ones. Or like fresh or frozen ones
: that have been in the crockpot for 8 hours will normally be. But she won't
: eat crisply cooked ones.

: My stew cooked for more like 9 hours by the time we got home. Everything
: else was perfect. Just the crunchy, squeaky green beans were off-putting.
: I left the crockpot on while we were eating, hoping they'd cook more so
: somebody would eat the leftovers.

: Does anyone know why they wouldn't have cooked? All the other vegetables
: (celery, carrot, potato, onion, corn) and the chicken cooked just fine. The
: only thing I can figure is that it is late in the season and the beans might
: have been tough. They were rather slender and didn't feel really tough to
: the touch though.

: Thanks!

The only thing I can think of is their position in the pot. I know that
if I want to cook either potatoes of carrots in teh crick ot I have to put
them in first, at teh bottom of the pot. Perhaps this applies to string
beans too. Next tiem try puting them in first adn see if it makes a
difference. Also, were they old adn woody, raher than snappy-crisp when
raw?

Wendy

"W. Baker" > wrote in message
...

> The only thing I can think of is their position in the pot. I know that
> if I want to cook either potatoes of carrots in teh crick ot I have to put
> them in first, at teh bottom of the pot. Perhaps this applies to string
> beans too. Next tiem try puting them in first adn see if it makes a
> difference. Also, were they old adn woody, raher than snappy-crisp when
> raw?

They didn't seem old and woody. They were mixed throughout the pot and I
stirred it a few times throughout the day. I could never just put something
on the bottom and leave it. Husband is usually the first person to eat from
the pot and he would never stir anything.