Cucumbers, corn and potatoes are in!

Why do I feel so far behind?!

Yesterday I finished putting in my seeds for cucumbers, potatoes (really late there) and a new corn called ‘glass gem’ yesterday. Then I remind myself it just hailed last week and snowed the week before so perhaps I’m more on schedule than I think this year. All the crops will get row cover over them to protect them from birds eating the seedlings. Out of sight, out of mind.

Today I put in 8 pepper and 8 eggplant transplants and have 8 more of each to plant tomorrow plus squash seeds and Tarabais bean seeds to plant by the weekend.

Sounds easy but after I lightly turn the soil in the bed, add amendments in each hole, put the plant in, make a well around each plant to hold the water around the plant, connect a drip line and wrap it around each plant, put straw around each well and make cages to protect them and lastly put row cover over the cages which I secured using rocks so they won’t blow off. Phew—it all takes time. I get tired just thinking about it!

I am still germinating the gourds under the lights in the house which as soon as they come up and grow their first true leaves I will put out. Oh yea and the beets and carrots have to still go in. Sigh—so much to do! And did I mention I put in my one purple tomatillo plant? Blah. Blah. Blah.

Tarbais bean/cassoulet part 2

Nov7

Cassoulet is a hearty winter dish which was originally created by poor farmers or peasants in southwest France. Only god knows what the rich and royal were eating if this is what the peasants ate cause this is very rich! There are different types of cassoulets in France depending on the region you live. Some cassoulets made in mountainous areas might have lamb as their main meat, others close to the sea would have fish and the most famous cassoulet is made with duck but no matter, they all used the Tarbais bean (pronounced Taar Bay) as a main ingredient to make this famous dish. To find out more about my experience on growing Tarbais beans go here. I made cassoulet with duck and my Tarbais (cassoulet) beans that I grew.

Cassoulet is slow cooked in a ceramic dish called a cassole which is a basically a covered ceramic casserole dish that can go in the oven. It traditionally is made with sausages, pork, duck confit and Tarbais beans-not for the faint of heart and I mean that literally!

So on with making a cassoulet with duck. Don’t be in a hurry cause it takes several days to make this dish-yes I said days—like as in 3 days!

First, Whole Foods ran out of duck confit, so I had to go online and learn how to make it myself which was a blessing as duck confit is very expensive and evidently not as good if you don’t make it yourself. There are many recipes on the internet but here is the recipe for both the Duck Confit and Cassoulet that I use from: Cassoulet by Anthony Bourdain and Michael Ruhlman as presented by ‘The Daring Kitchen’: http://thedaringkitchen.com/recipe/confit-cassoulet . Here is their recipe as a pdf – Confit_Cassoulet_Jan_2011 which is helpful to print out as your computer will run out of juice before you can finish making the recipe in 3 days!

I wouldn’t want to go to all this effort all the time but once a year in the winter is great. Plus I did not line the ceramic pot with pork rinds-just seemed like overkill to me (literally). Now don’t worry they also have several different versions of cassoulets at the link above for the more heart healthy conscious (like chicken confit in olive oil and vegetarian cassoulet) but I thought I’d try an original version once! Next time I will exchange the pork with smoked turkey necks (which taste like smoked pork) and the different pork sausages with turkey sausage versions as it has sooo much fat.

What was once a poor man’s dinner is now very expensive but oh so good. I like to eat this hearty winter dish on a cold winter’s night with a glass of red wine by the fireplace. I think the red wine cuts the fat, or least that’s what I tell myself!

Tarbais bean/Cassoulet Part 1

Nov6

Here is what Tarbais (pronounced Taar bay) beans looks like on the vine and closeup, after dried but before shelling and when shelled in jars. I like to cook and wanted to learn how to make a french dish called ‘Cassoulet’ last year (2012) and had a heck of a time finding this particular bean that hails from France where I would have to pay $34.00 an ounce for heirloom Tarbais beans ! That’s because our USDA and the cost of their inspections drives up the price to get them into the US. The ones to grow can be different from the beans to eat. The ones you can purchase to eat might not be a true heirloom, mixing genetically with other beans but they will taste the same unless you try to grow them out. The heirloom variety were not in any seed catalog last year but I finally found 4 people who offered their heirloom seeds through Seed Savers Exchange (SSE) in their Members Catalog ($4 for shipping only) and each gave a lot of beans (30+). Well worth joining because 1) you are supporting growing heirloom seeds and 2) many people grow unusual vegetables and offer their seeds through SSE. They were the only ones who had them in 2012 in the US. This year (2013) I saw them offered at Baker Heirloom Seeds in their catalog and got more although now I have my own supply of them as well.

Navy bean (top) and Tarabais bean (bottom)

So what’s so special about the Tarbais bean? I probably could have used a white Navy bean but I read that the Tarbais bean is slightly bigger and becomes creamy without disintegrating and becoming mushy like many other beans do and I wanted to be authentic and grow out that variety of bean.

The Tarbais bean originally came from the village of Tarbais, in southwestern France and is used in cassoulet dishes. Tarbais beans were developed by generations of farmers that lived in that area. The Tarbais Bean in 2000 obtained IGP status (Indication of Protected Geographical Origin). Only members of a small, closed cooperative in Tarbais are allowed to use that name for their beans, and production is tightly regulated. The original seed is a New World runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus) and most think it originated in Mexico.

That’s one of the great things about growing your own vegetables-you can grow something you might not find in the grocery store. That doesn’t mean it will taste exactly the same as where it originated from (like I doubt a New Mexico chili grown in New Jersey would taste the same as our conditions and soil are very different) but at least I could try. The beans are grown like any pole bean that you are going to leave on the vine until dried. They were harder to start as the birds liked the ‘bean sprouts’ when they popped up so I had to replant several times and cover them with row cover to protect them until they were about 3 inches tall. After that it was a breeze. Just water them regularly. They will produce many pods that you just leave on until fall when they dry on the plant.

Part 2 of this will be the about Cassoulets and the recipe I used.

The Holy Grail of Beans

Jan9

The holy grail of dried beans are Tarabais beans. They are a runner bean (Phaeseolus coccineus). Haricots Tarabais (as they are called in France), have been grown for centuries in Tarbes, at the foot of the French Pyrénées in the southwestern region of France close to the Spanish border. This white bean, which is larger than a navy bean, is thin-skinned, sweet and has creamy flesh and doesn’t fall apart when cooked. They are commonly used in a classic french dish called cassoulet, a rich and savory casserole baked with these beans, duck confit, sausage, pork, sometimes lamb, and topped with crispy breadcrumbs. This is a great winter dish. Different cities in France have different ingredients in their cassoulets, but all of them start with these beans. They are also perfect for any bean salads or bean soups.

I had a hard time finding them last year in the states. When I went online to get them from France they were very expensive- $34 an ounce! I had a friend who was in Germany try to get some for me but they were still $15 an ounce. Too rich for my blood and to think these were originally used as a peasant casserole! I was about to give up when I saw them in my 2012 Seed Saver’s Exchange members book last year. There were 4 people offering them in the US. It cost $5 (for postage) to get them. So I spent $20 and got some from all four members. Enough for 2 years. Well this year you’ll be in luck if you want to try these beans-they are in Baker Heirloom Seeds for the first time and are easily available this year in the states.

haricot tarabais bean pods in summer

In growing these beans, I found it tough to get them started having to replant the seeds 3 times before I got them to germinate on my 8 ft long fence. They grew up over the 3 foot tall fence and curled back on the other side which was fine. Once up they are up, they are an easy keeper. You don’t have to do anything special except to be sure to give them adequate water. They did get a little rust on some of the leaves but regrew new leaves (like all my beans) without it reoccurring again. You’ll need to get them in the ground as early as possible as soon as the ground warms up because it takes all season for the pods to mature. Then I picked them after the pods dried. After I picked them, I brought them inside, shelled them and placed the beans on a cookie sheet until they were really dry. You can tell if they are dry enough to put away by biting one and if it is rock hard and no give, then it is ready. After that I put them in some mason type jars where they are ready for me to start the cassoulet adventure this winter!