1,480 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 78 videos

Beans in primeur

As I write this, it is the beginning of the short season for fresh beans. If you've never made them before and you're just starting out (and that's a great idea) you'll find that it's a bit time consuming to prepare, you have to shell them once, remove the beans, scald them to remove the skin (and the germ for the purists) and then only use them in a recipe.

It's hard work, but it's delicious...

This being said, there is a little known aspect about beans, they are the so-called "primeur" or "en primeur" beans, which are prepared in a very different and much faster way.

10 K

Keywords for this post:Beans Early vegetables Green vegetables Pods

Last modified on: June 4^th 2022

For this post: Comment Follow Send to a friend

Beans in primeur

In early season?

This is said of beans at the very beginning of the season, when they are still small, 8-10 cm maximum, and very tender.
If you find some of this size, you often have to ask the farmer, it's quite surprising but you should know that everything is eaten in the beans at this time, the beans of course (not very big at this age), but also the pod that contains them.

How to do it ?

The trick is to work them a bit like green beans:

fèves entières
1) We break the 2 ends of the terminal by pulling to remove any wires, but there are very few in general.

fèves lavées et séchées
2) We wash and dry them.

fèves taillées
3) We cut them in small pieces, to your taste.

fèves en cuisson
4) We cook these small pieces as you are used to with other green vegetables, I like to cook them first in English (boiling salted water 3-4 minutes) and then cooled and drained, returned with a knob of butter or a little olive oil.

You will be surprised by the taste, something between snap beans and peas it seems, and the texture, very soft.

Don't hesitate to mix these beans with other vegetables for a varied and colorful dish.

To sum up: You can enjoy early beans, at the beginning of the season, by treating them a bit like green beans, which allows you to eat the whole pod, it is both delicious and very economical.

Lasts posts

Travel cakes

You may have come across the term "travel cakes" ("gateaux de voyage" in french) for certain pastries, so let's take a look at what they're all about.
January 27^th 20252,350

The aromatic power of sugar

In the kitchen, sugar doesn't just sweeten, it also has an exceptional ability to capture flavors. Combined with aromatic ingredients, such as citrus zest, it acts as a veritable sponge for aromas. By taking the time to let the sugar soak up the flavors, you can transform your desserts, making...
December 25^th 20242,7175

The little trap of thick cream

When you need to add cream to a recipe, you might be wondering: thick (heavy) cream or liquid cream? In most cases, there's no big difference: you can use either. But there is one exception, and that's when the cream needs to be cooked, for a sauce for example, and here the difference between...
December 13^th 20243,1965

Sauce and salad: When and how to mix them?

When dressing a salad, there's a kind of golden rule: add the dressing very shortly before serving, especially if your salad contains crunchy elements such as croutons or fresh vegetables, which will retain their crunchiness or crispiness. But, as is often the case in the kitchen, there are...
November 29^th 20243,3345

No need to boil gelatin

Gelatin is a magical ingredient for making light, creamy, structured desserts, yet it's often misused in the kitchen. A common mistake in some recipes is the idea that it needs to be boiled for it to work properly, but this is a mistake indeed: gelatin melts at a much lower temperature, around...
November 21^th 20243,2865

See all posts Random post RSS feeds

Other pages you may also like

What is the difference between bakery and patisserie?

This is a question that you may well have asked yourself and which I will attempt to answer. In France the two trades of "boulangerie" (bakery) and "pâtisserie" (patisserie and confectionery) have always been quite distinct, but where exactly do the boundaries lie? .
February 7^th 2017127 K 14.1

Well-cooked meat

Have you ever noticed that if you like your meat well done, it invites strange looks? For instance, in a restaurant, when asked “How would you like that cooked?” If you reply, “Well done,” it is almost as if you are swearing….
May 21^th 201130 K 14.4

A few tips for effective kneading at home

When you have to knead dough for bread or some other recipe, you may well use a food processor or the type of machine known as a stand mixer. The best-known brands are Kenwood and KitchenAid. They are useful tools, but here are a few tips to help you get the best out of them.
June 23^th 2021275 K 23.7

The gelling agent in a cream

If you start making a Bavarian cream for example, or any other that contains a gelling agent such as gelatin or agar-agar, you will sooner or later be confronted with the problem: How to properly incorporate this gelling agent into my cream? (and we will focus on gelatin).
June 18^th 202211 K4.9

Toss the salad

When you've finished preparing a salad, green or otherwise, it's usually time to add the dressing and toss. It's often said to "toss the salad", which means to season and mix. Is it easy? Not so easy...
March 8^th 20247,5785