Green Beans: The Topic

[furzzy]

There have been references to Souther Style green beans - but no one has told how to do it. We call them "cooked down" green beans.

Dice & cook up a few pieces of bacon. (Start w/some water in the pan & when it's gone the bacon will crisp without going black. Remove to drain on paper towels.

Sweat a great big diced onion in the rendered bacon fat. I usually use yellow onions, but whatever you prefer is fine. Make sure they're really translucent & soft, but not browned. Throw in the green beans - I like to leave them tipped but whole. Try it that way, and then next time cut them if you think you'd like that. Add some chicken stock (since this is kind of a braise, enough to come about half-way up the beans), a pinch of baking soda to keep the color, S & P. This is where you can add any spices or herbs, but I usually don't - I prefer without).

Cook, covered, over low/med-low heat, checking liquid level. Add more chicken stock as needed.

When they're soft & kinda' limp, but Not mushy, they're done. When you stir, a few of them will have started to split and some seeds come out - not a lot, just a few. Add the bacon back in & stir in down into the broth so soften just a tiny bit.

Just be warned, you need to make at least twice the amount you think you'll need.

Edited August 3, 2013 by furzzy (log)

[Shel_B]

Thanks for all the suggestions. There are a few that I know Toots will like, and that would also satisfy me. Got another couple of pounds of beans this afternoon, so tomorrow, while Toots is away, I'll whip up something from the ideas presented here. Looking forward to cooking something new!

[Ttogull]

I am trying something new, something I have gotten interested in recently. I gather you and Toots are interested in healthy stuff, and it doesn't get much better than this. Plus they will last a long time (months?).

Anyway, I got a lot of green beans at the market today, and I will be fermenting them. Like sour pickles, but green beans. I will probably include garlic, chilies, onions, and radishes, but we will see. All you need is water and probably some salt (depending on your preferences). I love the book Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz, but here is an article that might inspire you.

http://www.wildfermentation.com/vegetable-fermentation-further-simplified-2/

[Jaymes]

I am trying something new, something I have gotten interested in recently. I gather you and Toots are interested in healthy stuff, and it doesn't get much better than this. Plus they will last a long time (months?).

Anyway, I got a lot of green beans at the market today, and I will be fermenting them. Like sour pickles, but green beans. I will probably include garlic, chilies, onions, and radishes, but we will see. All you need is water and probably some salt (depending on your preferences). I love the book Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz, but here is an article that might inspire you.

http://www.wildfermentation.com/vegetable-fermentation-further-simplified-2/

Actually, that sounds a whole lot like Green Bean Kimchi - a dish that my Korean neighbor used to prepare often.

http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/green-bean-kimchi

[Ttogull]

Actually, that sounds a whole lot like Green Bean Kimchi - a dish that my Korean neighbor used to prepare often.

http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/green-bean-kimchi

I am not an expert on these matters, having only recently started fermenting veggies. But yes, green bean kimchi sounds doable. The recipe posted, however, does not seem like a true kimchi recipe in the sense that it does not call for fermentation. The Wild Fermentation book I mentioned has several recipes for kimchi. I put my green beans in a 5% sea salt water solution with ginger and a load of Thai chiles. I also inoculated it with some juice of raw sauerkraut I had gotten from the farmers market (unnecessary, but speeds things up). Even after only 8 hours, it is bubbling away. Kimchi, as I understand, involves just a few more steps, but is totally worth it.

Next up on the list are some fresh Lima beans I picked up. I'm curious what they will taste like fermented. Then collard sauerkraut...

[Jaymes]

Actually, that sounds a whole lot like Green Bean Kimchi - a dish that my Korean neighbor used to prepare often.

http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/green-bean-kimchi

I am not an expert on these matters, having only recently started fermenting veggies. But yes, green bean kimchi sounds doable. The recipe posted, however, does not seem like a true kimchi recipe in the sense that it does not call for fermentation.

As I understand it, there are several types of kimchi, including "spring kimchi," which is not usually fermented, but is eaten fairly quickly after having been made. Spring kimchi is my personal favorite. I particularly love spring kimchi made with green onions/scallions, and other spring kimchi, like the one illustrated with green bean and radish.

[Eph]

I tried some green beans in my Caso sous vide unit yesterday. A recipe I found said to do 180° for 90 minutes, the same as for some potatoes I was doing for mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes came out fine after finishing in a food processor, and the beans tasted fine and were a good consistency, but the color was olive drab, similar to canned beans. I did toss the beans with olive oil, lemon juice, and some lemon zest before sealing and cooking. How do I get the bright green color most prefer?

[Smithy]

The lemon juice, or any acid, will make those beans lose that bright color. I wonder what would happen if you waited to toss the beans with the lemon juice and zest until after cooking?

[Eph]

The lemon juice, or any acid, will make those beans lose that bright color. I wonder what would happen if you waited to toss the beans with the lemon juice and zest until after cooking?

Thanks, Nancy. That was probably it. The olive oil probably had no effect, so I'll try adding lemon zest and juice on completion.

[SobaAddict70]

one favorite is green beans with anchovy and lemon.

trim the beans by snapping off the tips, particularly the stem end. bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil, then add the beans and cook until they're bright green and crisp-tender. drain, then shock in ice water.

next, take each bean and split them in two by slicing them lengthwise. this can be a little tedious, depending on how much you have. if you have help, it takes less time of course.

warm a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, along with a couple of crushed garlic cloves. if you add the cloves to the cold oil, the garlic will infuse the oil with its flavor than if you had warmed the oil without the cloves. fry the cloves until they turn color, then remove them from the oil. add an anchovy fillet to the oil; mash the fillet with your spatula or the back of a wooden spoon. the anchovy will disintegrate into the sauce. add thinly sliced lemon (about 1 lemon is fine), as well as 2-3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley. cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

add the beans to the skillet. toss the beans, making sure they're well-coated by the flavored oil, the lemon and the herbs. cook until the beans are warmed through. taste for salt and pepper, then serve at once.

[Smithy]

Thanks, Nancy. That was probably it. The olive oil probably had no effect, so I'll try adding lemon zest and juice on completion.

You're welcome. By the way, SobaAddict's recipe above shows another great way to keep the bright color: blanch the beans in boiling water, then stop the cooking in ice water, then go on with the rest of the dish. I don't know whether that would help keep the color with your sous vide strategy. I do know I plan to cook his recipe soon. :-)