There were no plans to preserve yesterday – but sometimes I see something that melts a little piece of my heart and calls me to the jarring process (Im really not all that dramatic – but its the closest I can come to describing what happens).

I ran into a bin full of Ontario Romano Beans.  They looked super cool.  I bought a pile of them and took them home.

The cleaning process was relatively straightforward – split them with fingers and dump the contents in a strainer:

This is the first time I have ever bought fresh Romano beans and adored the colors.  I found it intriguing that the individual beans vary so largely from one to another.  Most reminded me of the speckled bowling balls I grew up with in the 1970s.

OH MAN OH – ROMANO!

September 16, 2009 by Joel MacCharles

There were no plans to preserve yesterday – but sometimes I see something that melts a little piece of my heart and calls me to the jarring process (Im really not all that dramatic – but its the closest I can come to describing what happens).

I ran into a bin full of Ontario Romano Beans.  They looked super cool.  I bought a pile of them and took them home.

The cleaning process was relatively straightforward – split them with fingers and dump the contents in a strainer:

This is the first time I have ever bought fresh Romano beans and adored the colors.  I found it intriguing that the individual beans vary so largely from one to another.  Most reminded me of the speckled bowling balls I grew up with in the 1970s.

I was somewhat disappointed that they lost all of their color when cooked (although that was very logical based on the fact that none of the canned romano beans I’ve ever eaten looked like a bowling ball) but excited with the results:

The jars  (about a cup) cost about $1 each – jarring them with a pressure cooker (these would not be safe to do without one) costs a lot of energy compared to drying.  The local element certainly saves on transport compared to many commercial products.  The winter will be the ultimate judge!

Instructions

1. Shell and clean beans.
2. Pack beans (raw) in clean, sterile jars (I generally recommend pint jars), leaving 1 inch of headspace.
3. Add 1 teaspoon of salt (optional).
4. Cover with boiling water, leaving 1 inche of headspace (they expand when cooking).
5. Place lid and pressure cook at 10 pounds of pressure for 40 minutes (start timing after the cooker reaches full pressure per instructions of your unit).
6. Remove from heat and allow to cool slowly without removing the lid (this will help prevent siphoning) for at least 30 minutes.