Sunday, March 21, 2010

Green beans with almonds

Every summer, I wind up freezing nearly all the green beans from Drumlin's PYO share. There's just such a bounty at that point, and few things freeze as well as green beans. I wash them, give them a quick trim, blanch, shock and then pack in bags. I've served them to people who can't believe they aren't fresh.

Sometimes I prepare them the way I describe in this post, or sometimes the Greek-style pictured in this post.

But sometimes you just want to go back to basics, like the traditional "Almondine" style. Here's my very simple version with my home-frozen beans.

Thaw beans for an hour or so on the counter. Heat generous tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add green beans and slivered almonds--anywhere from a couple of tablespoons to 1/3 of a cup, depending on how much you have and what else you're serving. I leave the heat nice and high and just shake the pan often. Grab some tongs and move it all around to be sure nothing's burning in the bottom. Add a few pinches of salt and keep it all moving. Test them after 3 or 4 minutes to see if they're hot or tender enough for your liking.