How do you prepare your string beans?

[Bobberman]

I love beans right out of the garden. I usually cook them with onions and even like them mixed with mushroom soup! I can't wait to try the runner beans! How do you prepare your beans?

[dustyrivergardens]

The health nut that I am I love Green beans cut about one inch long and blanched next I fry up some bacon make sure you have plenty of bacon grease to cook it in. Next toss your green beans in the bacon grease through in crumbled bacon heat add a little garlic salt and pepper to taste and serve with grated parmesano reggiano and a dollop of butter enjoy....lol

[DoubleDogFarm]

1 lb Fresh Green Beans
4 slices Bacon (diced)
1/4 cup Pine Nuts (toasted)
4 cloves Garlic (thin sliced)
1 Tablespoon Butter
Salt and Pepper to taste

Talk about healthy!

Eric

[Bobberman]

Those pine nuts sound great with the beans! I guess some people use slivered almonds also!

[DoubleDogFarm]

Yes, Almonds would do just fine.

Eric

[gumbo2176]

2 tbsp. bacon grease
1 large onion halved and sliced thin
3 cloves garlic minced
1 link good smoke sausage cut in 1/2" slices
2-3 lbs. green beans
1 cup chicken stock or water if stock is not available


Brown the sausage for a couple minutes in the bacon grease, add the onion and cook a couple minutes more then add the garlic and cook another couple minutes but not long enough to burn the garlic. Next, add the stock/water, green beans, salt and pepper to taste and let cook over a medium fire in a covered pot until they are to your liking in tenderness.

I'll sometimes add potatoes and carrots cut in large cubes when I add the beans to the pot for something a little different and heartier.

[Ohio Tiller]

Crock pot
green beans
ham hock
water
salt
pepper
onion
time about 8 hours on low
best beans you will ever eat!

[SLC]

I like mine sauteed up with a little bit of olive oil, fresh garlic and red pepper. Yummy!

This also works with broccoli!

[DoubleDogFarm]

I like mine sauteed up with a little bit of olive oil, fresh garlic and red pepper. Yummy!

This also works with broccoli!

Wait a minute, I thought the topic was pork fat.

Eric, Little by Little

[dustyrivergardens]

Lol I love how you guys cook.... I was always told I could make something good for me bad...more bacon fat please...a cat turd would be delicious wrapped with bacon...well ugh maybe not...

[applestar]

How do you taste the beans after all that?

I just heat a little water in the bottom of the pan to boiling, put the prepped beans in and with a bit of salt (I may or may not add a little butter) cover and shake for a minute or two. Take a peek and *maybe* cook another minute if not all the beans have changed color (in case of purple beans, turn khaki green, others just "brighter"), but usually, I turn off the heat to go get the serving bowl and they will all be done by the time I'm back. (I think I actually add the butter here, just before serving. Sometimes I use EVOO.)

*The beans should still squeak against your teeth when you eat them*
**adding nuts is a good reminder -- I don't always do that but I like almost any nuts with beans. Also sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds....)**

But I will try your recipes and see if I like them that way too.

[!potatoes!]

mostly raw or lightly cooked, pretty plain.

[Gary350]

I don't plant beans that have strings. I hate strings. I plant Blue Lake Bush Beans.

[estorms]

I just eat them raw in the garden while I am working. I can most of them.

[farmerlon]

How do you taste the beans after all that?

I just heat a little water in the bottom of the pan to boiling, put the prepped beans in and with a bit of salt (I may or may not add a little butter) cover and shake for a minute or two. Take a peek and *maybe* cook another minute if not all the beans have changed color (in case of purple beans, turn khaki green, others just "brighter"), but usually, I turn off the heat to go get the serving bowl and they will all be done by the time I'm back. (I think I actually add the butter here, just before serving. Sometimes I use EVOO.)

*The beans should still squeak against your teeth when you eat them*
**adding nuts is a good reminder -- I don't always do that but I like almost any nuts with beans. Also sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds....)**

But I will try your recipes and see if I like them that way too.

Yeah, I have to say that I don't like that "old school" approach of putting green beans in a big pot of water with a ham hock and cooking them all day until they are a mushy mess. My parents and grandparents cooked them that way.

A little olive oil in the pan, pinch of pepper, a little garlic, short cooking time; beans with simple feshness, texture, and taste! ... that's for me

[applestar]

I found a bag of last year's beans in the bottom of the chest freezer
Top 1" (about 6 beans worth) were seriousy frost bitten, and another 1" was speckled so I relegated them to my one cat who loves string beans (she will go digging after the ends I tossed in the compost bag heck I START processing beans and she'll smell them and come running, then stand on her hind paws, reaching up for the countertop and begging ).

The rest looked fine but thawed soft with no squeak left in them, so I cooked them with bacon, onions, garlic, a bit of butter, and some diced beet leaf stems in water and chicken broth. Freshly ground black peppers and pink Himalayan seasalt before serving. I didn't cook them very long -- the beans were al dente (so to speak) and yummy.

I think I'll try the recipe with this year's beans too.

[DoubleDogFarm]

How do you taste the beans after all that?

Has anyone cooked snap beans then puree. Use them for soup base or other dishes?

Eric

[applestar]

It's a very different flavor after a lot of cooking vs. very light cooking.
Soup base sounds interesting. How about Pacific halibut stew? I could picture it with same size pieces of white potatoes and turnips for different flavored white chunks, or yellow potatoes for visual fun. Maybe pearl onions....