Paging Mr Quadman

[Rondar]

I know this is getting posted late tonight, and my question may be too late also.

I have a mess of fresh green beans that I cleaned and snapped the tips off of. We had BLT's for supper so I swiped a few strips of bacon and put it in the green beans. So, in the beans that have been simmering for an hour now, I have 6 cloves (or whatever you call them) of garlic, some bacon strips that are cooked and crumbled in there, and as mentioned a couple three or so pounds of greens beans. I salted them with some fancy sea salt with minerals and some fresh cracked pepper.

Anything else that I can put in or shouldnt have for that matter? I did, before I put water in, add a few tablespoons of the bacon drippings, and sauteed the beans and garlic. I had planned to simmer them a while, then put them in the fridge overnight, then reheat them tomorrow night for dinner.

Have I screwed up badly? Wife sez this is my project :stirthepot: (Only cooking icon I could find :) )

[m-fine]

Sounds good until you put the water in. That and I would have started with raw bacon, cut up into small pieces, although cooked bacon plus drippings works for me. The beans will cook just fine sauted in pork fat (yummm), and will retain a nice color and crunch. An hour of simmering in water will make them pale, soft, and suck out lots of good flavor.

[Rondar]

Acckkkkk. I guess I grew up with my folks always cooking the beans a long time. They always tasted great the next day after cooling and warming up again. Well, one can always learn new things.

I have high blood pressure and am looking at eating more fresh veggies and fruits and less red meat. We live in beef country, and in fact raise our own here on the farm. Always had a passion for the processed foods. But I know I gotta start eating healthier and stuff so am looking for tasty things to cook that are healthy for you.

[woofersus]

I like my beans on the soft side. I'm good with the longer cooking method. I probably would have done it basically just like you didd but I'd have put in an onion. (cut to whatever shape you like to eat your onion)

[scc135]

classic french technique:
melt butter, add beans, add water up about halfway the beans (more or less depending on your preferred texture, I use less as I like them with a crunch), boil half covered til water is gone, season and serve. bacon crumbles on top so you can taste the seperate ingredients if I were to use bacon, but I prefer some sauteed shallots + a tiny tiny bit of lemon juice for some acidic brightness...

[lngbruno]

John must be very busy surfing to other sites he couldn’t view before due to his previous speed handicap (I’m still hampered with dialup). :peeping:

Steam, steam, steam your vegetables. You can make them as tender as you wish. If you want to try something new, you can make a mint, garlic, olive oil, sweet white vinegar, and salt and pepper (to personal preference) using a mortar and pestle. This dressing can be used to make a cold bean salad or on warm beans.

Did I mention that vegetables should be Steamed, Steamed, Steamed?! Oh yeah, I see it there in the second paragraph. :D

If you like a bacon and butter dressing, then cook that separately and stir into your drained steamed beans.

Bon Appetite,
Lou

[Rondar]

Whelp, the beans turned out great. Yeah I love the mushy beans that have cooked for hours and blend with other ingredients. I like the crispy-tender beans too.

:omg: :scratchchin: now I gotta figure out how to make brocolli taste good as I understand that is kind of a heart super food. I mean without all the high calorie creams and sauces. And a few other foods along this line.

[woofersus]

Whelp, the beans turned out great. Yeah I love the mushy beans that have cooked for hours and blend with other ingredients. I like the crispy-tender beans too.

:omg: :scratchchin: now I gotta figure out how to make brocolli taste good as I understand that is kind of a heart super food. I mean without all the high calorie creams and sauces. And a few other foods along this line.

Personally I like broccoli fairly simple. I just steam it until just shy of done, then hit it with some (a lot of) shredded Parmesan and give it 5-7 minutes in the oven for melting purposes.

There's also a local chinese restaurant that does broccoli sauteed with garlic and that's pretty good. Doesn't seem complicated to reproduce.

[django1]

Acckkkkk. I guess I grew up with my folks always cooking the beans a long time. They always tasted great the next day after cooling and warming up again. Well, one can always learn new things.

I have high blood pressure and am looking at eating more fresh veggies and fruits and less red meat. We live in beef country, and in fact raise our own here on the farm. Always had a passion for the processed foods. But I know I gotta start eating healthier and stuff so am looking for tasty things to cook that are healthy for you.

My gf does a lot of different vegetables in the oven. Like cauliflower, carrots, turnips and potatoes of course but also stuff like zucchini and eggplant ( zucchini cooks faster). She just cuts them up, puts them in a bowl with olive oil and salt and then spreads them out on a coockie sheet in a 400 f oven for about forty minutes. They caramelize a bit and are quite tasty.

[Rondar]

Cool Django, I might try that and see if it works, And I'll try your way too Woofersus. Heh heh I gotta start gagging this stuff down instead of the stuff I like, course, thats why I got high blood pressure :toilet: