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Greenbeans .. what do you do with them?


Gifted Gourmet

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the article

When beans are bursting from their farmstand baskets, as they are now, with a snap and meaty quality we don't see the rest of the year, we like to try other techniques. That's how we got hooked on what we call "every night green beans."

When one lives in the South, it is easy to simply assume that green beans are something to be cooked to a 'farethewell' with ham or bacon ... since I don't subscribe to that notion, I prefer my green beans crispy and flavorful .. and, yes, I do blanch them, and butter them of course! ... but what do you do with your green beans? Interesting recipes? :rolleyes:

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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LOVE fresh green beans. Grew up with them simmered in a pot with bacon and new potatoes till they were almost mush. Of course, as a kid, I thought they were great. (Still "comfort food.")

These days I love to blanch them, then saute in a little olive oil and a garlic clove. Lightly salt and wa-laa. Delish.

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I like to slice garlic -- so that it looks like little almond slices -- and chop shallots and throw them both into a healthy dollop of olive oil and sautee until the garlic gets a brown. The you throw in your previously blanched beans and toss around until the beans are warm and well-coated. Throw 'em into a serving dish and to with a little chopped parsley.

One nice thing about this is that you can do everything in advance and, once the frying pan cools down, throw the beans in and forget them until the last minute, while you tend to the rest of the meal.

I'm on the pavement

Thinking about the government.

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I have to admit I am a fan of the southern style. Not crispy at all, and if done well, starting to lean towards brown instead of green, but oh, so very, very flavorful... especially with some pot liqour, vinegar, and onion on top.

He don't mix meat and dairy,

He don't eat humble pie,

So sing a miserere

And hang the bastard high!

- Richard Wilbur and John LaTouche from Candide

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We used to make a green bean provencale at a resturant i cooked for. It was so popular that the waitresses didn't like it when we didn't have it on the menu that night. We used Escoffier's provencale recipe and added it to the blanched green beans. The more garlic the better they liked it.

A island in a lake, on a island in a lake, is where my house would be if I won the lottery.

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We used to make a green bean provencale at a resturant i cooked for.  It was so popular that the waitresses didn't like it when we didn't have it on the menu that night.  We used Escoffier's provencale recipe and added it to the blanched green beans.  The more garlic the better they liked it.

:rolleyes: Might this be something similar:

1 lb fresh green beans

1/4 cup water

2-4 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 cup sliced green onions

4 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 tablespoons shallots, minced

1 cup tomatoes, halved

1 teaspoon dried or fresh rosemary

2 teaspoons dried or fresh basil

salt and pepper to taste

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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You make pickled green beans out of them.

And then you purchase some vodka and make bloody marys.

Brooks, m'dear, why would someone pickle a perfectly good, bright green, crispy green bean when one could torture an okra pod intstead?? :wink:dem beige beans

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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Brooks, m'dear, why would someone pickle a perfectly good, bright green, crispy green bean when one could torture an okra pod intstead??  :wink:dem beige beans

To answer that question properly I would need to meet you in The VIctorian Bar in the Columns Hotel located on beautiful St. Charles Ave in New Orleans. Mixologist Mike Smith can show you exactly how glorious a pickled green bean can be in a well mixed bloody mary. We could then enjoy them on the giant front porch as we watch and listen to the streetcars roll by.

Let me know when you're coming to town Melissa, and I will meet you there.

Brooks Hamaker, aka "Mayhaw Man"

There's a train everyday, leaving either way...

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This is a recipe from Lynne Kasper that I have made several times this summer for guests - always drawing raves! You will see that she says to serve the beans at room temp. - and while they are VERY good that way, I simply reheat them before serving in a bit of olive oil.

I make these early in the day - strain - salt after cooking GENEROUSLY - and then let them sit in a bowl on the counter all day if neccessary! Dont be afraid to use a lot of salt - by time you eat the beans, you will taste only a delicious vegetable, not salt.

Even my husband, who really doesnt like green vegetables, loves these!

Tuscan Family Green Beans

3 qrt boiling water in a 6-qt. pot

3 Tab. salt plus more to taste

1 1/4-1 1/2 lb green beans, trimmed

Freshly ground black pepper

Fruity extra virgin olive oil -(opt.)

adapted from the Italian Country Table: Home Cooking from Italy's Farmhouse

Kitchens" by Lynne Rosetto Kasper

These are the beans I ate one September, night after night on my cousin's farm in Tuscany, beans so good you will want to eat them with your fingers, one by one. I never tired of them. Salt, pepper and olive oil were always on the table to dress the beans. To taste their full sweetness, cook the beans a few min. beyond the tender-crisp stage we've become accustomed to. Salting the water and salting the beans while they're still hot are essential for opening up their flavors. Good olive oil. tasting of fruit and nuts makes a lovely finish, but the beans are superb without it too. On our family table in Tuscany, they're served at room temp. I've come to like them this way.

Cook to Cook: Of course the beans must be good to begin with and garden-fresh are best.But this recipe works with the sturdier beans shipped long distances in winter and taste flavorful, with a hint of sweetness. Don't buy beans that are dull and flat tasting, wilted, puckery or limp.

Serve these beans with almost anything. They freshen mellow roasted or braised dishes, foil hot and spicy ones, tone down tart ones and are just right with grilled fish or meat.

1. Add the 3 Tab. salt to the boiling water. Taste for appealing saltiness. Drop in the beans and boil uncovered 5-10 minutes, until tender, but with no hint of mushiness. Timing varies greatly according to the age, size and freshness of the beans. Taste for doneness and trust your judgement, not the clock. Drain immediately in a colander and turn into a bowl. Most important is to season the hot beans right away with salt and pepper. Then taste again, adding more seasoning if necessary.

Serves 4-6

Class Notes:

1. use Kosher Salt in the water but when salting cooked beans, use any kind

you like, e.g. sea salt, etc.

2. As Ive said, Lynne says to serve at room temp.

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:rolleyes: Might this be something similar:

1    lb fresh green beans

1/4    cup water 

2-4    teaspoons olive oil 

1/2    cup sliced green onions 

4    cloves garlic, minced 

2-3    tablespoons shallots, minced 

1    cup tomatoes, halved 

1    teaspoon dried or fresh rosemary 

2    teaspoons dried or fresh basil 

salt and pepper to taste

Escoffier's recipe is:

Provencale Sauce

Peel, remove the seeds, press and coarsely chop twelve medium

tomatoes. Heat in a saucepan one-fifth pint of oil, until it begins to

smoke a little; add the tomatoes seasoned with pepper and salt; add

a crushed garlic clove, a pinch of powdered sugar, one teaspoon of

chopped parsley, and allow to cook gently for half an hour. In

reality, true Provencale is nothing but a fine fondue of tomatoes

with garlic.

As i remember it we adjusted the garlic and sugar depending on the

quality of tomatoes at that time of year. We also added some basil. It was nothing for us to make 3-4 gallons of provencale on a weekend night and use it

all up. For what it's worth i still refer to The Escoffier Cookbook as the bible, just

like we did in that kitchen.

A island in a lake, on a island in a lake, is where my house would be if I won the lottery.

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Plucked fresh off the vine (these were the flat romano type - Musica, I believe). Sauteed some chantrelle mushrooms in a little olive oil (non-stick pan), add trimmed beans, toss for a bit, add leftover champagne (!), cover and cook till done (not mushy, this time). Uncover to cook off liquid. Serve.

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After ordering Szechuan Green Beans at a local restaurant a number of years back, I vowed that I'd attempt to reproduce the recipe at home or else go bankrupt from ordering it takeout.

Throw sesame seeds, sliced chilies and a remarkably large amount of finely minced garlic into a hot wok for browning. I use canola or vegetable oil for frying with a splash or two of sesame oil for taste. Add previously blanched green beans and toss with a liberal amount of salt. Eat piping hot to capitalize on the fire from the chilies!

Joie Alvaro Kent

"I like rice. Rice is great if you're hungry and want 2,000 of something." ~ Mitch Hedberg

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To answer that question properly I would need to meet  you in The VIctorian Bar in the Columns Hotel located on beautiful St. Charles Ave in New Orleans. Mixologist Mike Smith can show you exactly how glorious a pickled green bean can be in a well mixed bloody mary. We could then enjoy them on the giant front porch as we watch and listen to the streetcars roll by.

Let me know when you're coming to town Melissa, and I will meet you there.

I seriously have my doubts, Brooks, that anything or anyone could make me enjoy anything remotely related to okra ... maybe I was tortured by an okra pod in utero?? :hmmm: Really don't get what all the fuss over this vegetable is about ....

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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When I was a kid, my mom served gray, overcooked greenbeans every friday night. It's amazing that I still eat them.

One of my favorite ways to eat them is blanched and then tossed with sea salt and toasted sesame oil. Sometimes, I'll take the blanched beans and sautee them with garlic and ginger and then add the toasted sesame oil.

I also like blanching the beans and making a multi-bean salad with green and yellow beans, romas, edamame, kidneys, etc and tossing with a very garlic-y mayo.

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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steamed until crisp-tender. served in a heap, with crumbled bleu cheese and very rare slices of rib eye. fleur de sel or maldon and lots of black pepper.

"Laughter is brightest where food is best."

www.chezcherie.com

Author of The I Love Trader Joe's Cookbook ,The I Love Trader Joe's Party Cookbook and The I Love Trader Joe's Around the World Cookbook

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To answer that question properly I would need to meet  you in The VIctorian Bar in the Columns Hotel located on beautiful St. Charles Ave in New Orleans. Mixologist Mike Smith can show you exactly how glorious a pickled green bean can be in a well mixed bloody mary.

I agree that the "best and highest use" of a pickled green bean is in a bloody mary. Perhaps it's because green beans and tomatoes are such a good match -- who knows?

This reminds me of a time when a friend of mine and I visited a local neighborhood bar for bloody marys the morning after a night of intemperate drinking. The bloody marys were not spectacular at this place, but they were large and they were served with very good pickled green beans as a garnish.

I told him to order while I went to the restroom. When I returned, we had bloody marys -- with NO PICKLED BEANS. I asked him why -- were they out? -- and he replied, "Well, the bartender asked me if I wanted beans in my bloody marys, and I said no. I don't want no beans floating around in my drink." After I stopped laughing, I disabused him of his notion of a couple of canned pinto beans lobbed into his drink, and went to beg the bartender for extra green beans.

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My aunt likes to fry it in butter until the beans sort of get black dots and dark green then she puts soy sauce - it's really yummy!

I like it for fried rice as well. I dice it, saute in butter/oil then add tofu/rice.

I also like it as you mentioned- just blached and buttered- otherwise, blanched then eaten with a yeast sauce (nutritional yeast+olive oil+soy sauce+vinegar/lemon juice mix).

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We love to steam the fresh green snap beans, shock them in ice water. Then saute some thick sliced mushrooms in sweet butter, not turning them over or stirring them until they're nice and carmelized on one side. S&P them generously.

Then mix them up and continue saute-ing, and then add the juice and zest of one lemon, and add back the drained shocked green beans heat to just the right serving temperature.

doc

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Tip the ends

Stir fry over very high heat with a little peanut oil until beans are just barely tender

Add thin slices of onions just at the end of cooking along with soy, sesame seeds, toasted almonds, and a little lemon juice.

These should remain fairly crunchy but heated all the way through. Delicious with a big hunk o' red meat and a baked potato.

Brooks Hamaker, aka "Mayhaw Man"

There's a train everyday, leaving either way...

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I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned Indian-style options.

I love green beans, simply fried in ghee and with black mustard seeds and cumin, maybe a little asafoetida or ginger as well. Serve with basmati rice or steamed rice.

Also tomatoes and onions cooked in ghee with a little turmeric (for color), black mustard seeds, chiles and garlic, add green beans and maybe some yogurt, and you're set. This version works well with okra too. :raz:

Soba

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