Those Rockwells, traditional to Whidbey Island, and Peregions, said to have been discovered in a hedgerow in Oregon, are indeed fine beans. I soaked and then cooked a cup of each in side-by-side pots to confirm their differences–and they are different. She calls the Rockwells “a baking and cassoulet bean” and the Peregions are good in salads, soups, or rice & beans.
I used the Peregions for a sort of chili dish, with bits of fried pork, a small red onion, and some sweet frozen corn, which I seasoned with cumin and chili powder (and salt of course) with a dash each of coriander, curry, and tumeric. I sprinkled some Cada Dia Parmesan on top and cilantro from the flower pot in the window. We ate it all up and wished there were leftovers for the next day!
I used the Rockwells for a sort of Pasta Fazool interpretation, a soup with pasta and beans. It went like this: I fried my last garden shallot, some garlic, and chopped frozen Roma tomatoes from last summer’s garden, and poured in some frozen broth with a sprig of thyme. When it began to simmer I put in the cooked Beans and some cooked pasta (Azure’s whole wheat elbows, as it happened), chopped up four leaves of kale from the garden, added some bits of chopped Salumi because I didn’t have any guanciale or pancetta, and dropped in a glob of thawed pesto, then cooked it just a bit more. On inspiration I grabbed a hot little pepper I got from Rebecca last summer which was of course dried and shriveled, chopped it and put the red fragments into the pot. I ground some black pepper into the soup and served it with a generous grating of Cada Dia parmesan. It was really good! ~ Eleanor
