Tuesday, June 23, 2009

The essence of summer


If you asked me to give you a list of objects that describe summer to me, one of the items would definitely be green beans. They are one of the highlights of a summer garden. We picked green beans and cooked them over the weekend. In fact, they were the most talked about and praised item at our Father's Day celebration meal.


I can remember my grandmother's recipe as green beans, water and streak-o-lean, salt and pepper. That was my mother's too until she tried to avoid quite so much fat.


My recipe would be: Add few tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of a pan, pour in the green beans, add salt and pepper and cook on medium heat until they are perfect. I like them a little beyond the bright green stage, the less water the better. I guess if you are cooking them a little hotter, you might have to add water but (this is a must) be sure to cook the water out before serving. I can remember a relative telling me that you had to "scorch" the green beans a little to make them good. I try not to do that but I am OK with just a little scorching -- not too much.

Our green beans were delicious and the smell while cooking was like -- summer!

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