String bean stew with apples

Ingredients for 3 servings:

• 600 g beans (runner beans), cleaned and weighed, the best are wool or runner beans
• 500 g potatoes, peeled and weighed
• 500 g apples, e.g. Boskop, peeled and weighed
• 1 onion(s), approx. 100 g
• 3 tbsp grain meal (bulgur, green spelt or barley meal)
• 1 tbsp Flour, coarse as possible
• 3 tbsp sour cream
• 1 bunch of herbs (e.g. lovage, flat parsley, savory)
• Pepper, white, ground
• Salt
• 250 ml water

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 5 minutes

Peel and dice the onion and place it in the bottom of a pressure cooker. Remove any strings from the beans, if necessary, then chop diagonally (this is easiest with a bean grinder, the shredder attachment on a food processor, or a food processor). Pour the beans onto the onions along with the coarsely chopped herbs. Cut the potatoes into small to medium pieces and place them on top, seasoning with salt. Place the apples, finely chopped (with skin on if not, more coarsely chopped), on top. Pour in the water, close the pot, bring to a boil, release the pressure, and cook under pressure for 10 minutes, then turn off. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, dry-heat the bran and flour, stirring continuously, until fragrant but not browning. Then rinse the pressure cooker and open it. Carefully pour the resulting cooking liquid (perhaps only some of it) into the saucepan, stir with a whisk until smooth, and simmer for a few minutes until a thick sauce forms. Season generously with pepper and salt. Transfer the vegetables to a large bowl (reserve any excess cooking water, but there should still be some). Stir the sour cream into the sauce and stir it into the vegetables. Serve (either on flat or pasta plates). Note: Woolly beans or runner beans (often sold these days as ornamental vegetables because of their pretty red flowers) are by far the best for this recipe. Some need to be threaded, some don’t. However, they should still be tender and not woody on the outside. If you don’t have beans and apples on hand at the same time, you can easily blanch the chopped beans and keep them in the refrigerator for a few days or freeze them for longer. This is definitely better than storing the beans for too long after harvesting.