I love cooking in Colorado, but there are a few products I have a hard time finding locally: Fresh rabbit. Good, tart, crisp heirloom apples like the ones you get by the bushel back East. And tender, tiny, juicy green beans.
Most of the farmers I work with grow them for size rather than flavor and texture. I’ve tried in the past to compensate for the tough texture of the beans by ‘Frenching’ them, which means cutting them in half along their seam to create the illusion of a tender bean like a haricot vert, but this never makes much of a difference. If I want a crisp-tender, just-cooked bean, I use another variety of summer bean, like a snow pea or snap pea.
The best use for green beans, especially large fibrous ones, is in a casserole, where the bean can absorb the flavor of a soffritto and become tender through long, slow cooking.
Traditionally, braised vegetable dishes, like the Potlikker stew of the American South or the Calabrian slow-cooked rapini, are cooked past tenderness to the point of becoming mushy. I like to braise green beans only until they have absorbed the flavors of the stew; I still want the bean to have some integrity. This means cooking the bean for 25 to 30 minutes, rather than an hour or two.
John Broening cooks at Duo and Olivea restaurants in Denver.
Slow-Cooked Green Beans
Makes about 6 portions.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 thick slices bacon, cut in small dice
1 medium yellow onion, cut in small dice
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 pound green beans, stem end cut off, cut into 2 inch pieces
Salt
2 cups tomato puree
1 cup chicken stock
A few sprigs fresh sage, thyme or rosemary
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a heavy-bottomed casserole, heat the olive oil over low to medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until lightly colored. Stir in the onion, and add a pinch of salt. Cook until tender and lightly colored, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until softened but not colored, about 3 minutes.
Stir in the green beans. Add a pinch of salt and cook about 5 minutes until slightly softened. Add the tomato puree and stock. Lower the heat and cook, uncovered, for about 25 minutes, until the beans are just tender. If the liquid starts to dry up, add a few splashes of water.
Stir in the fresh herbs and allow their flavor to infuse for a minute or two. Remove the herbs.
Stir in the balsamic vinegar. Adjust seasoning.
Transfer the beans to a small baking dish and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs and cheese. Bake until golden and bubbly, about 10 minutes.
