Bean Patties

Let me start with this: these are delicious, my kids ate them for dinner and reheated for lunch, they're freezable, vegetarian-possible (also baconarian-possible), fairly healthy if you use healthy fats and inexpensive. 

Pardon the kiddie plate, most everything is served on the finest licensed character melamine at our house :D

The 1944 title of this recipe is "mock sausage".  I don't know why.  These don't really resemble sausage in any way, so rather than insulting anyone's intelligence by asking them to be fooled into regarding this some kind of sausage substitute, I call them "bean patties".  Besides which, they're good enough to stand on their own without any nominal porcine support.

American Woman's Cookbook, Anacostia HS 1944 home ec textbook

I used limas b/c the original recipe calls for those beans specifically and b/c my dear husband lerves lima beans.  You could use whatever type of bean you want.  The original recipe calls for sieving the cooked beans to mash them up and presumably to remove the skins.  I wonder if removing the skins would have been so important if food processors had been available in 1944.  I think not.  I chopped mine up in the food processor...skins still present without noticeable defect in the final product. 

I reduced the number of eggs used b/c I thought 3 eggs would have made the mixture far too wet, so you will only see 2 in mine (difference in standard egg size from 1944 to present?...I feel a reference question coming on).  I served ours plain, no tomato sauce as suggested in the OR, but feel free to whip some up for your dinner. 

Lastly, I LOVE the advice to serve the dish with "milk, egg or cheese" to present a nutritionally complete meal.  It makes you stop to think about how much we "know" to be "true" about proper diet and nutrition and how in 60+ years, it will all be bunk anyway.


Bean Patties
Makes 4 servings

1 cup dry lima beans or 3 cups cooked lima beans
2/3 cup bread crumbs (whole wheat recommended for flavor)
2 eggs
2 tbsp olive oil or bacon fat
1/2 tsp sage
salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten
1-2 cups breadcrumbs
Bacon fat or oil for frying

Soak beans overnight, if using dry beans.  Drain and cook 1 hour.  Drain and cool.  Process cooked beans in batches in a food processor.  Mix in 2/3 cup bread crumbs, 2 eggs, oil and seasonings.  Mixture will be soft.  Refrigerate for 1 hour if desired to make it easier to handle.

Ready for dredging

Shape mixture into 2" "meatballs".  Roll in breadcrumbs, then egg wash, then breadcrumbs again.  Flatten to 1/2"-3/4" thick.  Freeze on a tray, if desired, then vacuseal when frozen solid.

Check the awesome spatula ;)

Do not thaw, if frozen.  Fry in a little bit of oil or bacon fat until golden brown, turning once.  About 4-5 minutes per sides on slightly higher than medium heat, a couple minutes longer if they're frozen.  Alternately, bake them about 20 minutes at 375F, until golden brown. Pin It