adventures with spicy pickled beans

Well, thanks to COVID, we had some extra time on our hands this year (with all the lack of activities and school and commuting and all), so we did what everyone else did and planted an extensive garden. Dave built me these fantastic raised beds, we filled them with compost, added plants and didn’t do a lot else. One of the things we wound up with an abundance of is green beans. I planted both bush beans and pole beans. We eat beans at least once a week (with our pizza, because we’re weird like that), but at the height of the season, there’s really only so many green beans one family can use.

Now, because I’m old-fashioned like that, I have long held this delusional fantasy of something along the lines of homesteading… living off-the-grid, if you will. I have this idealized, Little House on the Prairie idea of how we should live, not dependent on the grocery store, or really anyone, to aid in our “survival”… But, let’s face it, I’m not exactly cut out to be a “prepper”, much as I would like to convince you all that I am. BUT, growing and preserving our own produce is one of those things that I’ve always wanted to do, but never gotten around to learning how to do. Usually, when I want to learn how to do something, I check out every book I can find on the subject from the library and read them until I’ve either convinced myself I can do it, or get too intimidated and ditch the idea. Canning is one of those “intimidating” topics for me.

But, one random Sunday afternoon in August, finding myself with an abundance of beans and a bee in my bonnet, I suddenly announced that I was going to the store and buying jars and canning supplies. FINALLY. (I’ve been threatening to for at least a decade.)

Now, my mom sufficiently scared me away from wanting to do any normal canning of green beans. The word “botulism” is right up there in the URGENT: MUST REMEMBER portion of my memory (right along with choking on fish bones will kill you), so the whole pressure canner thing is something I still approach with caution and much fear and trembling. But I thought I could probably pull off some pickled beans and just do a normal water bath canning.

Honestly, the only way this actually happened was because of the aforementioned “bee in my bonnet” phenomenon. Had I waited, this never would have happened. But, I found a recipe that sounded yummy: https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2018/09/10/spicy-pickled-green-beans

And then I set out to find all the things I needed.

I acquired jars and lids, pickling salt, and all the spices, along with the jar tongs and funnel and all that.

I picked my beans, washed them and cut them into lengths that would fit in the jars. I sliced up my garlic cloves and measured out my dill seed, red pepper flakes, peppercorns, and brown mustard seeds… I mixed up my brine. I filled my pot with water and put the trivet in the bottom. I washed my jars and boiled my lids… all the stuff you’re supposed to do.

I was SO CRAZY NERVOUS!!!

The biggest problem turned out to be that my pot wasn’t quite big enough and keeping the jars covered meant that water would boil over and put out the burner. So I kept having to move the pot back and forth from burner to burner to keep it boiling, since being doused with water makes a gas burner reluctant to re-light. Next time I’ll use my biggest pot.

But, when the time was up, and I pulled the jars out to cool, they looked like they were supposed to.

I followed the recipe’s instructions and left them alone over night.

The next morning, they appeared to be sealed properly, so I labeled them and put them away on a shelf in my pantry. They looked so pretty! I’ll admit, I was outrageously proud of myself for actually doing this, and (apparently) not screwing it up!

So, there they sat. Looking pretty. I kept looking at them and wondering if they were appropriately “pickled” yet… I was apprehensive. Would they taste good? Would they poison me?

Finally, last week I got a hankering AND the courage to pull a jar out and try it. Based on the evidence provided by how hard the jar was to open, I’d say the sealing process happened according to plan. I tried my first bean…

I think my exact words were something like, “Oh my gosh! This is delicious!!” Seriously! They were SO good! Definitely pickled, definitely spicy, but super crisp and yummy, and definitely NOT poison!

The first jar was gone within a couple of days. All the brine and spices left in the jar made me feel like they should be able to be repurposed for something… Seemed a shame to just dump them down the disposal. But I couldn’t think of anything practical to do with them, so away they went.

The second jar was opened soon after, and at this point, my only regret is that I only made 4 jars!

Next year, I’m planting lots of beans, and I might just pickle them all!