Our holiday feasts always included meat (sometimes two), two types of potatoes, and at least two side veggies. Mom wasn't a big one for corn, but she did love her green beans. Most of the ladies in the 50s and 60s made green bean casserole and sometimes Mom did too, with french beans. But sometimes she swapped it out for something simpler and I now realize tastier Green Bean Almondine.
The recipe is very simple and Ma didn't leave me measures because, as she told me: "you never knew how many fresh green beans would be left from the summer season."
Anyway, here's what she did tell me about how to make it.
- Green beans must be fresh, not canned or frozen.
- Snap off the end where it hangs from the stem and leave the other end intact.
- Wash them in cold water.
- Set aside a large bowl of very cold water with ice in it.
- Place a pot of water on the stove, well-salted, and bring to a boil. You want enough water to cover the top of your measure of beans by around 1 inch.
- Boil in the water until they just turn deep green, remove, and immediately immerse in the ice water (this is called blanching).
- Remove and dry off with a t-towel or two.
- Smash 1 or 2 cloves of garlic (your choice) and cut up or send through a garlic press.
- Slivered or sliced almonds (your choice as to which and how much).
- Over medium heat toast the almonds in the oil until lightly golden in color- watch them closely!
- Add in the garlic and toss to coat.
- Add in the green beans and toss to coat as well, leaving them all in the pan and cooking until they are glossy and slightly puckered in texture.
- Season with Kosher salt on top and/or sesame seeds.
Serve warm.
Simple enough, no? :) Thank you Ma!