When I was growing up we had a really big garden. My brother Pat totally took care of the garden, it was his baby. Personally, I thought his constant expansion of the garden was ridiculous, the reason being, I had to help in canning and freezing his abundance of veggies. We canned tomatoes, green beans, pickles, peppers; we froze the corn and hung the onions. It took us weeks to get everything put up, but I will say it was worth it in the winter because I enjoyed eating these veggies.
One of my favorite veggies from Pat’s garden was the green beans, yes I really liked green beans as a kid. I think green beans made it to almost every supper table, we had so much. So today, I am making my Grandma Marcella’s Barbecued Green Beans, and remembering back to long ago summers sitting at the picnic table in the back yard preparing the beans. Then it seemed like such a chore for a 10 year old, but now, all the canning and preserving are fond memories spent with the ladies I loved; Grandma, Ruth Ann and Barbara.
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| This weeks market find…fresh Blue Lake green beans |
I bought these beans from Thao Ranch from Galt, California. They are a staple at the farmer’ market, and you can count on them to have an abundance for fruits and veggies such as tomatoes, spring salad mix, long beans, cucumbers, peppers, garlic,onions, melons and green beans. Plus their flowers are amazing, especially their Zinnias.
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| Thao Ranch – always has the biggest stand at the market. |
The best thing about this dish is it only has four main ingredients, yeah!
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| Ready for cooking |
~Ingredients~
1 pound fresh green beans, stems removed and cut in half if you like
1/3 cup barbecued sauce
4 slices of extra thick bacon, diced. Pancetta would be good too.
1/2 cup of diced onion
1 clove of garlic, sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste
This recipe can be changed to your liking, have fun with it and add what you like. I have added mushrooms, red peppers, potatoes and sausage to the beans, I like adding different flavors each time.
1. Heat your skillet and cook the bacon until brown and crisp. Remove to a paper towel and set aside.
2. Drain off all but 1-2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings (you can remove all the drippings and add oil instead.)
3. With the skillet on medium heat, add the onions and garlic, saute to lightly brown.
4. Add the green beans and water to the the skillet. Stir and cover with a lid and steam to tender crisp.
5. Stir in the barbecued sauce, butter and salt and pepper.
6. Cook over low heat to caramelize the sauce.
7. Add the reserved bacon and stir well.
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| Sauteing the bacon Here’s my beans, they came out nice and tender, and the smokey sauce and bacon add so much flavor to this dish. I hope you enjoy this too!  |
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