Green Beans ... Very Special.

'Green Beans'  is the recipe title. In the text, it says this preparation is 'very special'; this, from a collection of  'colonial recipes' published years ago by The Old Farmer's Almanac.  Well, I've had the booklet for years and have finally gotten around to making this version of summer green beans. It has been chilly and damp and stormy and depressing for the past week, here in New England.  It's a good thing that I have new-born kittens to cheer me or I'd surely have crabbed at Silent Bob and the dogs, bitched at my children for not even giving one surly comment about why I don't bake more often those cute cookies I posted yesterday, sent a nasty letter to Boston Red Sox management about John Lackey and his 'lack thereof', and gone to ground (or bed) with a good book, a pot of herbal tea (or something stronger) and a hot water bottle.

Instead, today I have roasted a chicken with spice rub and lemons poked here and there (with grumpy glee), roasted some tater wedges, and prepared ... green beans. So there!

So, if green beans are the title of this recipe, why is that slather of white stuff front and center? Special ... that and the onions are working here.  The sweet white onions get a quick boil ...with a salty water. The beans get added to the onions and water to come to a blanched crisp. The sour cream/heavy cream/flour/ pepper slather gets added as a thickening agent ... and finally ...

butter and basil. Fresh green summer herb and ... well... butter! Butter! Can it get any better? Or, as the booklet states, 'very special'. So there!

Give the beans a try, so that I don't bitch and moan about no one appreciating this 'colonial recipe'.  Gush, people, gush! JK!

'Special' Green Beans - printer friendly

Green Beans

a special preparation

courtesy of The Old Farmers Almanac Colonial Cookbook

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1½ c. water plus ½ tsp. kosher salt
2 good-sized onions, thinly sliced rings
2 lbs. fresh green beans, washed and tipped
1 heaping tbsp. flour
3 tbsp. butter
½ c. heavy cream or sour cream (or a mix)
fresh basil leaves, washed, rolled and sliced into ribbons
black pepper
Making the dish:

1. Boil the onions in salted water for a few minutes. Add the green beans and continue boiling until the beans are bright green and starting to ‘tender’.

2. Mix the cream/sour cream, flour, black pepper and mix to a paste.

3. When the beans are bright green and just beginning to soften, add the flour slather and stir to thicken.

4. Lower heat and cover, cooking until green beans are almost tender.

5. Stir in the butter and slivered basil and let the butter lump melt. If the sauce is too thick, add just a bit more cream and stir to make a smooth sauce.

6. Turn into a serving dish and serve.