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Bacon-Fried Green Beans w/Shallots and Ham
 Moderated by: Vargr, shadowcat-x, boojum
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 Posted: Sun Apr 29th, 2012 07:35 pm
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Vargr
Vargr


Joined: Tue Jun 7th, 2005
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado USA
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While shopping at World Market this week, Boojum chanced upon some fresh-picked green beans. Their garden-fresh goodness prompted him to ask this wuffy if Vargr could do a "bacon-fried beans" side dish for the after-Hero-Summit BBQ.

Silly bunny! Of COURSE wuffy can do that! The first formative ideas for the dish were supplamented as Vargr browsed the Deli case at Lunardi's. What better way to set off a dish like that, than with a bit of top-quality bacon and ham to complement the fresh green beans?

The result? A side dish that still retains the original garden-fresh bean goodness, paired with shallots, savory smoked bacon and exotic, powerful Black Forest dry-cured ham, bound together in a slighly sweet white wine pan sauce made from the fond of the bacon, ham, and shallots, enhanced with Dijon mustard, a touch of honey, and a pat of butter to thicken.

Oh yes, these were good! Vargr would be proud to serve these along-side any entree at a fancy feast (they would go especially well with a robust beef roast, or game). But they worke just as well as a side for our smokey BBQ burgers and dogs at the backyard cookout.

Give these a shot if you want to kick your garden beans up a notch or 3! You won't regret it!

Vargr's Bacon-Fried Green Beans, w/Ham and Shallots in white wine pan sauce.

- 1-1.5 Qt fresh garden Green Beans (key-these must be fresh produce, not canned), stems removed.
- 3-4 med shallots, fine minced
- 2.5 Strips thick cut smoked bacon (key-your dish will rely on the bacon quality. Don't skimp here)
- 1 "slab" Black Forest dry-cured ham 1/4 " thick, by 5X5 inches (about 1/4 lb) (Can also use any high quality "country ham", or perhaps a similar amount of good prosciuto, though you probably won't find the latter in pieces that thick). Diced into 1/4 cubes.
- 1/3 C dry white wine

SAUCE:
- 1/3 C dry white wine
- 1.5 T Dijon mustard
- 1 T honey
- 1T unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS
In a very large (or 2 large size) skillet over high heat, brown the diced bacon until it is just starting to turn crisp.

Just before the bacon starts to crisp, add the diced ham and minced shallots and stir into the bacon grease until the shallots start to turn translucent.

Add the green beans and toss or stir to coat with the bacon, ham, shallot mixture. Continue frying, stirring/tossing occasionally, for about 4 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium-high. Add white wine, and quickly cover the pan to keep the steam in (if you don't have a large enough lid, use the bottom of a cookie sheet or similar device to hold in the steam.

Allow beans to steam until wine is gone (about 4 minutes). If necessary, remove cover after 4-5 minutes for last of wine to boil away.  Pour off the beans into serving bowl and cover to keep warm.

Return pan to heat and add second portion of white wine (1/3 C).  Deglaze pan with wine and allow to reduce by approx 1/2 volume, then add honey and Dijon mustard, and wisk together until smooth. Finish off with the pat of butter and wisk vigorously until silky and slightly thickened. Pour over beans, toss briefly, and serve warm.

 

You may notice that there is no salt used. This is because the bacon and ham should provide enough salt for the fresh beans.  A bit of fresh ground black pepper might go well on these (but we were service some "pepper adverse" folks for this event, so wuffy avoided it here).

Optional: Wuff recommends trying these with some toasted pine nuts or toasted slivered almonds. We didn't have them for the BBQ, but the addition of the nuts should complement these beans nicely!

 If you per-chance to make these, please let this wuffy know what you think!

Enjoy!

VARGR

Last edited on Sun Apr 29th, 2012 07:36 pm by Vargr



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