I want to give props to my homey, Master Gardener, Harry H., of North Barrington, IL.
The last time we had a Carr Family reunion was around 2008 or 2009. It was a smaller one, probably a little over 100 souls were there. With the passing of all The Eight Carr Sisters except my mother, daughters of the family matriarch, Mama Carr, and the aging of the 1st cousins of that generation, it will, in all likelihood, be the last one. As the generations spread out from their respective Sister, the Carr family of my youth has disappeared, and each branch has their own traditions.
Both my grandmother, Mama Carr, and my Grandfather Carr were dedicated gardeners, growing much of what they consumed the rest of the year. Many of The Sisters or their husbands were of that same ilk. My Uncle Dutch is famous for his multiple vegetable gardens.
One of the many things that happened at this reunion was the distribution of small packets of a heritage bean that the family calls Carr beans. The are small white beans with a small amount of darker spots. They look like a cross between a white bean (my father always called those Navy beans) and black-eyed peas. It is my understanding that my grandparents and others always raised these in their gardens. Something in the back of my mind tells me that the beans may have come down out of the mountains of Arkansas with my great grandfather, John Franklin Austin, but I could be dreaming.
I ended up with two or three packets of the Carr beans. However, at this time I was still living in apartments, and bouncing around with my work in the Information Technology field. This prevented me from doing anything with the seeds, and I actually forgot about them for a while. When I took a job back here in the St. Louis area, I moved in with Señora, and while unpacking long closed boxes, I came across the seeds again. We tried for a few years after that to grow them here in Chesterfield, but luck was not with us. Between squirrels, deer, rabbits, and not having the best place for a vegetable garden, we never managed to make a mess of Carr beans big enoughto eat. We, however, kept saving enough seeds to try again next year.
Before last summer Harry and Susie were down from Chicago, visiting, and I was telling him about the Carr beans and our lack of success. He took some home with him and voila, he planted the magic beans, fended off giants, and brought us three or four pounds of them when he visited again after the summer growing season. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
The other night I finally got around to cooking a mess of them. They were not quite what I was expecting. From their appearance, I was expecting a flavor more in line with black-eyed peas, but they tasted more like white beans, which is to say pretty mild. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed them, and I have enough for two or three more messes. Plus I believe the North Barrington Master Gardener is planning on planting them again this year… now that he knows what to do with them.
How I cooked Carr beans – basically I treated them like any other dried bean that I am fond of cooking. I am so fond of bean dinners that when my mother used to ask what my request was for my birthday dinner I frequently chose pinto beans, some type of greens, cottage fries and, of course corn bread. In my world it does not get any better than that.
My Carr Bean Recipe
1 pound Carr beans – which is about 2 cups
1 onion -roughly diced
3 or so bay leaves
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce – makes everything better
1 smoked ham hock and/OR 3 or 4 cubes of vegetable broth – I frequently do this instead of adding a ham hock or a ham bone.
My ingredients are not fixed and I frequently ad-lib other flavorings when I cook beans.
- Soak the beans using one of two methods.
- Long soak (my preference) – place beans in a pan well covered with water for 8 hours, then drain off that water. I usually use a colander and rinse the beans after they drain.
- Fast soak – cover well with water, bring them to a boil, turn of heat, allow them to sit for an hour, then drain off that water and rinse.
- Return beans to pan and add 5 cups of water. Add more water as needed during cooking process. I do not like my beans soupy, so just be careful with amount, but keep enough water to cover them.
- Add the rest of the ingredients
- Cook for between 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours until the beans are done… no longer rattly as the country folk are fond of saying. Stir occasionally. Depending on the ham hock size you may need to flip it from time to time.
- When beans are done, cut the meat off the ham hock and mix it back in with the beans
- Serve over rice, or on top of corn bread, or whatever is your favorite method for eating beans
- Goes great with greens and cornbread…obviously
And so it goes.
Jeff and I, independently of each other, asked Mom to prepare that for our birthdays one year when we were, I think, in our forties? Mom was surprised that was a favorite. I did not know that it was poor people food – I always thought it was good eating.
I’ve always loved a good pot of beans, however, my idea of such and Greg’s are different. His would more closely match what you prepared with navy beans. Mine is to take a mix of several varieties – pinto, adzuka, black, etc., and then cook them in a large stew pot. I also don’t like soupy beans. I used to eat them over wild rice for a complete protein.
Thanks so much for the shout out. I am sitting here in N Barrington watching the snow fall and dreading the frigid temps coming for the next few weeks, the weather guys are telling us. Now I will be dreaming of planting rows and rows of Carr’s Beans come spring.