Two of my favorite friends, Sharon Peters and Connie Green, were traveling through Mexico and were kind enough to keep their eyes peeled for interesting beans for the Rancho Gordo trial gardens.
One of the prettiest is this taupe colored runner bean (ayacote in Mexico) that is quite big. They found it in a market in Cholula.
As usual, I took one cup of the beans, soaked them and then cooked them with onion and garlic that had been sauteed in olive oil. Even soaked, they took a long time to cook but they were pretty nice. A distinct potato texture and thick skin.
Ayacotes are often served with chile sauce so after they were cooked and salted, I added a sauce I’d made earlier from ancho and New Mexican red chiles.
I think they’re good but perhaps not so distinct that we’d grow them out. I have a dozen other runner beans to test.
