When I was a kid, I love my Memaw's green beans. So did my daddy. We would eat the tender, delicious "snap beans" flavored with fatback and cooked until they fell apart. Heavenly.
I was in New York City many years ago, a senior in college, and a friend my of dad's had invited me to eat lunch with her at a very chi chi restaurant. I wore pantyhose to the lunch date -- that tells you how long ago it was. I ordered some chicken or fish and it came with green beans on the plate. The beans were just slightly warm, and I tried to eat one and nearly spit it out, in horror. It was barely cooked. It was crunchy. I called the waiter over and told him to please take the beans back to the kitchen and cook them. He looked very puzzled.
It's not my fault that chef had no idea how to cook green beans.
This year I planted a TON of green bean seeds, Blue Lake variety. I didn't realize any were ready to pick until day before yesterday, and then I picked what you see above. Hallelujah!
My brother and I love the green beans we get at Asian restaurants. So he set out to re-create their green beans and I took his ideas and added my own twist. I posted on Facebook about it and I think everyone was sort of amused that me, a born and bred southerner, would go nuts over green beans cooked a very non-southern way. Tasty is tasty, though.
My green beans were not crunchy. Lord no. However, they weren't cooked until they fell apart, like Memaw cooked them. There IS a happy medium
I cleaned these, boiled them for about 15 minutes to soften them up, then in a skillet sauteed two cloves of fresh minced garlic in olive oil. I then threw in the beans, and liberally added soy sauce, sesame oil, a little bit of balsamic vinegar, a pat of Plugra butter, and salt and pepper. You will need to taste and adjust seasonings to your taster. That's the best way to cook.
My brother would have added some hot chili oil. I did not.
I had to restrain myself from eating the entire skillet full of beans.
We've had a lot of rain the last few days so I am hoping my bean plants will continue to keep me in fresh beans all summer. There is no comparison -- fresh from the garden just taste 100% better!
