English peas (left) and Fava Beans (right) - in their Pods
I recently came across a couple of recipes that called for Fava Beans and I had to scratch my head because I'd never seen a fava bean. In fact the only time I'd ever heard of fava beans was, like many of you I expect, when Hannibal Lecter said, "I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti" in The Silence of the Lambs. I certainly wasn't seeking them out after that!
Well wouldn't you know that once the fava bean was brought to the forefront of my mind I saw them in several markets. I didn't know it but they're considered a "spring vegetable". They looked fairly intimidating, kind of like a pea pod on steroids, but I mustered the courage and hand picked a pound from the bin, along with some English peas, in order to make the Spring Vegetable Ragout that would accompany our halibut that night. (More on that in another post.)
Fava beans, also known as Broad Beans, resemble really large lima beans when they are out of the shell, but are not as meaty when you eat them. In fact, they are quite light, a little bit herbal and buttery, and the small ones almost melt in your mouth. Nutritionally, fava beans are a good source of dietary fiber as well as protein, although they are not a complete protein. They also are a source of calcium and iron, with no cholesterol. This all sounds good, right? Well nothing in this life is perfect including the elusive fava bean. The downside? Fava beans require double peeling. First the beans must be removed from the pod - that's easy. Then to easily remove the second shell, it's best to blanch the beans in lightly salted water for 15-30 seconds, drain them, plunge them into an ice bath, and drain them again. Now the tough outer skin of each bean can be removed by pinching open the end of the bean opposite the stem, where it was attached to the pod. Squeeze the outer shell to release the bright, shiny beans. This does sound like a lot of work, but trust me it's well worth it. My anti-all-vegetables husband not only expounds upon his love of these tasty green morsels, he clamors for more. Go figure.
Now in the interest of full disclosure and to tell a tale on myself. I've made this spring ragout of fava beans and green peas twice, and I misunderstood the recipe's instructions on what to do with the beans the first time, so what did I do? Well I blanched the whole pods, removed the beans from the pods, and then finished the recipe with the beans in their shells. I think the reason we didn't mind eating the beans with their outer shell still on was that most of the beans were young and that shell was relatively soft, but then again, neither of us knew any better anyway. It wasn't until I typed out the recipe that I really read and understood the directions. The second ragout was just that much better, with consistent texture throughout. OK, you can laugh now!!
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