Not Your Grandmothers Sauteed Green Beans With Slivered Almonds Recipes

SAUTEED GREEN BEANS WITH BACON AND ALMONDS

Steps:

• Place bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until browned on one side, then turn over to cook on the other side. Add the almonds to the skillet at this time, and cook, stirring until light golden brown.
• Remove the bacon from the skillet, leaving the bacon drippings. Crumble or chop bacon, and return to the skillet. Melt the butter in with the drippings. Add the green beans; cook and stir until tender, about 8 minutes.

PAN-ROASTED GREEN BEANS WITH GOLDEN ALMONDS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and add salt (a teaspoon or so, or to taste). Fill a large bowl with ice and water. Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook until bright green but still firm, about 2 minutes. Drain and transfer to the ice water. When cool, drain again. Pat dry with paper towels until completely dry.
• Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the almonds and the oil, adding more oil if needed to just cover the almonds. Cook over medium heat until the almonds are golden, about 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the shallot. It will cook in the residual heat.
• Coat a large skillet with oil. Heat over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add the beans and season with salt. Cook, tossing frequently, until charred dark brown in spots and tender-crisp, about 7 minutes.
• Top with the almond mixture, then the parsley. Grate the zest from a quarter of the lemon directly over the beans, then cut the lemon into wedges for serving. Season with pepper and serve.

NOT-YOUR-GRANDMOTHER'S SAUTEED GREEN BEANS WITH SLIVERED ALMONDS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and prepare an ice bath. For the ice bath, use a lot of ice, add 1 teaspoon or so of kosher salt (which will make it a bit colder) and put a colander inside the bowl so that the ice stays separate from the beans and it's easy to drain the beans as soon as they are well chilled.
• Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook until tender-crisp, about 3 minutes. Ladle out 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of the water, then transfer the green beans to the ice bath using a wire mesh spider or tongs. Allow to chill completely, then lift the colander out of the ice bath, and dry the green beans thoroughly with kitchen towels or paper towels. This can be done ahead of time.
• In a medium skillet, heat the butter and almonds over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the almonds are deeply browned and nutty, 2 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and shallot and cook, stirring often, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes longer. Add the lemon juice, along with 1 to 2 tablespoons (15 to 30 ml) of the cooking water. Increase the heat to high and stir and shake the pan rapidly to emulsify, about 30 seconds. The sauce should have a glossy sheen and not appear watery or greasy. If it's still watery, continue to simmer and shake. If it looks greasy, add another 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of water. When the sauce is ready, remove from the heat.
• Add the green beans to the pan with the sauce and toss to coat and combine. Return to medium heat and cook, tossing, until heated through, about 1 minute. Season to taste with Maldon salt and pepper. Garnish with the lemon zest and serve immediately.