Friday, July 4, 2014

Fresh Green Beans with Onion, Garlic, Soy Sauce... and a little bacon fat

It's fresh string bean season folks! These beauties came from a 20¢ pack of seeds I tossed in the yard and after making these Pan Steamed Fresh String Beans I look forward to picking some more! I started with a Pioneer Woman recipe, my little twist is adding soy sauce instead of salt, that really added another layer of flavor. Trust me, you'll want to try to get a little bit of everything on each yummy fork full:@) 
The idea is to reduce the stock/broth so you end up with a nice caramelized coating on the beans-oh Momma!

Fresh Green Beans-adapted from The Pioneer Woman
1 lb green beans, washed and ends snipped off
2 Tblsp bacon fat (can sub 1 Tblsp butter and 1 Tblsp olive oil)
2 cloves garlic
1 C onion, chopped-I left mine in long slivers
1 C chicken broth or stock
1/2 C red bell pepper, chopped
S&P to taste-or omit the salt and add 1 tsp soy sauce while cooking, then stir in another tsp before serving
  1. Add bacon fat, onion and garlic to a heated skillet. Stir for minute or so. I let my onion cook for a bit then added the garlic.
  2. Add the beans and cook for a couple minutes, until they get bright green. 
  3. Add the stock, bell pepper and S&P (or 1 tsp soy sauce if using). Turn the heat to low and cover with a lid but leave it cracked to allow steam to escape. Cook for about 20-30 minutes or until liquid evaporates and the beans are tender. I suggest setting a timer for about 12 minutes, look at them and leave the lid off if there's still a lot of liquid. I even turned the heat up to boil it off.
  4. If using soy sauce stir in the last 1 tsp once the beans are done.
Happy 4th of July everyone!
Eat well, stay safe and play nice:@)

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