Help re. overgrown runner beans

Caterina

I just came back from holiday to find most of my runner beans really overgrown. I can use the shelled beans for soups and stews, but am wondering if there is a way to cook the tough pods, maybe to blend and pass through a fine sieve for soup?

Has anybody tried this or has any other suggestions?

Thank you!

cyclonebri1

Potato peeler, but to be honest "gone over" runner beans are compost apart from the beans themselves, imho, of course

On a similar subject and as you mentioned soup, I "found" a row of spring onions planted early in the year, well over normal picking stage, but finely chopped and blended with mushrooms and potato they made a great flavoured soup

olias

I was given some runner beans recently and the grower apologised that they were tough as old boots and stringy as they were overgrown.
What I did was top and tail them, cut off the stringy sides with a potato peeler, cut into 4" lengths and then cut these sections into 3 or 4 strips lengthwise. Then boil the he11 out of them (at least 20 minutes). I had a big bowl of them with some parmesan and crispy bacon mixed in and they were lovely - really tender. A bit of a faff, but it was worth it.

Olias

sgun

Curry them (cook them for a LONG time or microwave for 4-5 mins before frying them up with spices and then just follow your normal recipe) Also Delia's spiced runner bean chutney is lovely and perfect for overgrown beans. It will keep easily for 2 years unopened too, in fact I had some this year that I had kept for three and it was perfectly fine but the rubber seal was starting to decay. It makes a good xmas gift if you fancy up the jar a bit.

Caterina

Thank you all for good replies, in the end I am picking the ones with still some crunch when snapped and letting the older ones go to full seed, will use the beans in the pod for stews and chillies, they are a bit like kidney beans.

I am finding that if I chop them very gimlet in soups the biggish ones are still ok. I am not fussy, it is more my son who complains about a bit of fibre! But with the thin slice method he was ok.

WTFH

...or leave them to go to seed and plant them next year.