the friday feed: half-runner beans

If you grew up in Appalachia or almost anywhere in the South, you know there are plenty of people who can’t wait for the bean crop to start coming in. Dayton has a large Appalachian population and out at the farm people are checking in to see if we have half-runner beans. Yesterday we got two bushels and by the end of the day had sold a bushel. 

I love to ask the customers how they like to prepare their half-runners. It’s always with some kind of pork: pork belly, salt pork or a meaty ham hock, sometimes just bacon grease. The secret is to bring the beans to a boil and then cook them covered, low and slow, adding water to make sure you have an inch or two in the pot. As the water cooks down, it makes a rich broth. And the beans are cooked to death, the Southern way.

When buying the beans, many people buy three pounds. That’s a “mess of beans.” One time I asked a sweet lady why it was called a mess of beans and she said, “Oh honey, it’s just a big batch of something good.” .