by Paul Mick » Wed Dec 03, 2008 12:22 am
My grandmother's recipe for country green beans is extremely simple, but surprisingly good. The green bean/bacon ratio could be upped a bit from this recipe and it would still be good, but here's how we always make it.
4 standard cans of green beans. (Sorry, I don't know the exact measurements on how much that constitutes.) We've always used ones we canned ourselves, but any store brand would work fine. In theory, you could also use fresh green beans provided you cooked them beforehand.
1 lb of bacon (I've always used turkey bacon, because its healthier and I personally think it tastes better)
1 to 1.5 packs of onion soup mix
1 medium onion, chopped
First, fry all of the bacon until it is fairly crispy, let it cool, and then crumble it. I personally recommend a George Foreman grill if you're going to use pork bacon. It makes catching all of the grease for later use much easier.
Then lightly brown the onion in a skillet.
Pour all of the green beans in a pot with their juice (or water if you cooked fresh green beans) and add the onion, bacon, and some of the bacon grease if you desire. (My grandmother always added all of the grease, but I can't in good conscience recommend that course of action. If you use turkey bacon, then this will likely be a moot point.) Bring the contents to a slow boil. Add the onion soup mix, and let it continue to slowly boil for about 4 minutes. Then just reduce the heat and let it simmer for about an hour and a half.
Overall, an extremely simple recipe that wouldn't tax your faculties while you were taking care of your two year old.
"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."--J.R.R. Tolkien