To me they taste rather like pinto beans. You could use them in tacos, burritos, enchiladas, etc. Or of course any kind of beany soup, or chile.

Thanks, Nila. I really had no idea what they were like, but if you think they could be substituted for either of those beans, then I'll give it a try! Thank you.

Still curious, though if there's any specific recipe for them--perhaps from across the pond?

Across the pond the beans themselves are not eaten at all. Runners are always used as green beans, i.e. only the pods are consumed. They are considered useless once the beans have swelled and, if not being saved for seed, they end up on the compost heap. It's only on Garden Web I have ever heard of using them as either shellies or dried beans. I've tried them as both now but not thought much of them.

This post was edited by floral_uk on Thu, Nov 21, 13 at 4:49

I think what Floral has said could be just a tradition and bean culture across the pond, in the land of Mr. Bean LOL.
This past summer, when I missed picking some on time, I used them as shellies and they were quite tasty. But I have never tried dried ones.

This year, like shermthewerm, we got more matured scarlet runner beans than we need for seed next year. We had only 4 plants in a raised bed, mainly for the humming birds, and were surprised with how many beans matured. I was impressed with those long, long pods!

I've cooked the dried beans in my pressure cooker, until they were tender. They do look and taste like pinto beans, but they're much larger beans by comparison. You face a really significant bean on your plate, and they don't soak up the flavor of your sauce as easily as smaller beans, kind of a little mealy because of their size.

But if you are a bean lover, as we are, you'll enjoy the difference. I'd caution not to make more than you think everyone will eat at one meal. Nobody at our table greeted leftovers with that much enthusiasm. Perhaps the fault was mine as I kept the flavor simple so we could judge them on their own merit. I ended up putting them into a vegetable soup and that how my first batch of scarlet runners worked out.

I'm with you, sherm, there must be someway to really dress them up!