Have you ever heard of a strang bean? (grown, tomatoes, vegetables)

[yankeegirl313]

His Mama calls them"Leather britches."

Its a strang bean that you lay out in the sun for a week, then cook them up like a green bean.

To me, they look like a dried up, wrinkly prune. I`ve got a mess on the stove right now, and they are not impressing me much, so far.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by yankeegirl313

His Mama calls them"Leather britches."

Its a strang bean that you lay out in the sun for a week, then cook them up like a green bean.

To me, they look like a dried up, wrinkly prune. I`ve got a mess on the stove right now, and they are not impressing me much, so far.

All I can think of is a string bean which is just another name for a green bean. We called them string beans when we were growning up. If they look all dried up, yuk, they might not be too fresh so will be tough. Let us know how they taste.

Nita

[J&Em]

Originally Posted by yankeegirl313

His Mama calls them"Leather britches."

Its a strang bean that you lay out in the sun for a week, then cook them up like a green bean.

To me, they look like a dried up, wrinkly prune. I`ve got a mess on the stove right now, and they are not impressing me much, so far.

They aren't supposed to be dried and then cooked right away since this was a method of drying for preservation, NOT for taste, similar to when people use modern dehydraters to dry tomatoes and fruit to eat months later in winter. The type of bean that worked well is considered an heirloom string bean now.

Originally Posted by nmnita

All I can think of is a string bean which is just another name for a green bean. We called them string beans when we were growning up. If they look all dried up, yuk, they might not be too fresh so will be tough. Let us know how they taste.

Nita

They don't "look" all dried up, they ARE dried up. LOL

Here's the first place I found with a simple explanation (and possible idea on how to cook them to taste better????) "Vegetables of Interest": Leather Britches Beans There was someone who used to post on City Data who did this as part of her homestead without electricity. She preserved and canned the old fashioned way. That was where I had seen the term -leather britches- and immediately recognized what you are talking about with "strang beans."

[Bulldogdad]

Its actually a "strang" meaning string of heirloom green beans that have been dried and re-hydrated then cooked with bacon, butter etc. My Irish/German grandmother on my Moms side used to do them here in California back in the 1960's and 1970's. Her husband my Italian grandfather used to plant those varieties in his half acre garden. Hard to find the right type of beans now a days for drying. I haven't had them since I was a kid and Gramps stopped planting them and Grandma stopped drying them.

As kids we used to help harvest them and string or strang them up to dry in the tool/garden shed with the garlic heads. As kids my cousins and I used to jokingly call them leather *******.

[yankeegirl313]

Thanks alot for the words of wisdom! I cooked them with salt and bacon grease..MIL said that she uses Shotening, but I had some bacon grease in the freezer.
Meh...They were ok, but I prefer the regular green bean better.