COUNTRY STYLE GREEN BEANS

Prep/Chopping Time 5-10 Min / Cook Time 15-20 Min

COUNTRY STYLE GREEN BEAN INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb of Fresh Green Beans

• 8 oz Sliced White Mushrooms

• 1 Small Yellow Onion

• 3-4 Cloves of Garlic (1 Very Large Clove)

• 8 strips of Bacon

• 1 - 2tsp Salt

• 1 tsp Black Pepper

• 1 tsp of Chicken Bullion

• ½ Cup of Water

Preparation:

1.     Rinse/Wash your Green Beans.  I purchased a 1 lb bag of French Style Green Beans in a Bag from Kroger and they already had the ends nipped off!!!

2.    If you didn’t take the Green Bean Short Cut, Nip the top end that connected to the bean stock from the beans.

3.    Find a pot large enough to steam your green beans.  My pot was my medium one from my set.

4.    Cut your green beans into 1-2” pieces and place in the pot.

5.    Fill with just enough water to cover the green beans and sprinkle some salt in the boiling water like you normally would for cooking pasta.

6.    Set to medium high heat and steam long enough for the beans to become fork tender.

7.     While your beans are steaming, cut up your onion.  I peeled my onion, cut it in half and then cut into slices lengthwise and then cut those slices in half width wise.  You should have onion slices about the same length as your beans.

8.    I purchased pre-sliced mushrooms because they were on sale and cheaper than the whole white mushrooms.

9.    If you didn’t purchase pre-sliced mushrooms, slice your mushrooms up.  Each mushroom should yield about 4-5 slices.

10. Move on to Peeling your garlic. Place the garlic clove down on your cutting bord, turn your knife on its side and give it a good whack.  The peel should come off easier.  Then Slice it finely and then run your knife alongside crosswise and then keep repeating until it is minced well.

11.  Grab 4 pieces of bacon and slice up into small pieces. 

12.  At this time, you can get ½ cup of warm water and add 1 tsp of Chicken Bullion to it and stir to dissolve.  Allow this to set aside until later.

13.  In a large skillet/fry pan, place it on your stovetop on medium high heat.  Once the pan is hot, add your chopped pieces of bacon.

14.  At the point your bacon is ¾ of the way cooked add the chopped onions and garlic to the pan and allow them to sweat down for a couple minutes.

15.  You can add a sprinkle of salt and pepper to the onions and garlic after they have been in the pan for a couple minutes.

16.  A few minutes after you have added salt and pepper to the Onions, Garlic, and Bacon in the pan, add the sliced mushroom to the skillet.

17.  After a few minutes and the mushrooms have begun to cook down, you can add an additional dusting of salt and pepper on the mushrooms.

18. The mushrooms will need an additional several minutes to cook down.

19.  At this point your green beans are likely done cooking/steaming.  Remove from heat and strain them.

20. Once your onions and mushrooms are tender and slightly caramelized, you can add your strained steamed green beans to the skillet.

21.  Toss them around with everything to combine well.

22. Add the chicken bouillon you prepared earlier to the skillet.  It will take 3-5 minutes for the chicken bouillon to cook down and become slightly thick and absorb in the mushrooms.

23. Grab yourself a fork and get a bite of onion, green bean, mushroom, and bacon together and taste to see if more salt or pepper is needed.  If so, add additional seasoning to the skillet and stir well to combine.  After 1 – 2 minutes, repeat this step.

24. Once you are happy with the salt content level, remove from heat and you are ready to serve and enjoy!

These green beans are a spectacular side dish to pair with steak, pork chops, grilled salmon or even baked chicken.  They are very versatile and fresh green beans amp up the flavor, especially if you can get them freshly picked from your garden or farmer’s market.  I have also made this many times with canned mushrooms and canned green beans.  Just sauté your bacon, onion, and garlic like in the first few steps and then once they are caramelized, add your drained cans of green beans and mushrooms.  Note: if you used canned beans and mushrooms, you would likely need less salt!

Enjoy this easy to make side dish to accompany all your summer recipes.