I love the Noble Pig Winery blog.
It is written by Cathy Pollak, a former wine enthusiast who, with her
husband, ended up being owners of a vineyard and
producing their own wine. Cool,
huh? The blog is always interesting,
written in a wonderfully friendly conversational tone, and features some
mouthwatering recipes.
I am always looking for new ways to prepare green beans
since it happens to be Mr. O-P’s favorite (and when I say favorite,
I mean it is one about which he does not seem to grumble), so we have them
quite a lot. When I saw this recipe last
week, I knew I had to try it. Thumbs up from us both on this one. Lover of vegetables that I am, I could have eaten this entire bowl and called it dinner.
There is a
great tutorial here if you want to take a look; the recipe is below with a few of the
changes that I made.
Fresh Green Beans with Bacon
and Shallots
1-1/2 pounds fresh green beans, ends trimmed (I used 1lb.)
3/4 pound bacon ends and pieces or thick cut bacon,
chopped (I used 4 slices)
2 large shallots, sliced into thin rings (I diced mine)
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Blanch beans in three
separate batches*, boiling for 3-4** minutes each (beans should be soft with a
slight crunch ~ taste before removing the whole batch from the water.)
Immediately plunge beans into a large bowl filled with ice water; let sit for
two minutes before removing to a paper towel lined tray. Repeat with other two
batches of beans. Soak up any excess water on beans with more paper towels,
it's best if they are as dry possible. This process can be done several hours
in advance if you choose.
In a large skillet, fry bacon until crispy. Remove with a slotted
spoon to a paper-towel lined plate. Over low heat, fry shallots*** until
slightly brown, about 1-2 minutes. Return beans to the pan and toss with the
shallots, slightly warming the beans as well. Remove beans and shallots from
the pan, shaking off any excess grease, and place on a serving tray. Season
well with salt. Sprinkle bacon on top and serve immediately.
*I used a fairly big pot so that I was able to blanch all of the
beans at once. I turned them out into my
largest mixing bowl that I had filled with ice water.
** I know the popular way to eat green beans these days is when
they are crunchy, but Mr. O-P and I prefer our beans with “bend-ability,” so I cooked mine
for about 6 minutes.
*** After removing the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, I wiped
out the pan and sautéed the shallots in what remained of the bacon drippings.
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