The following is the way that my grandmother taught me to cook green beans. Of course, she always grew them when we cooked them and she taught me that, too.
Here's Granny's recipe:
"Take you a mess of green beans, like the ones we just went out and picked. String 'em and snap 'em and wash 'em. Take that big cast iron pot over there and fry up some some streaked meat, til it just starts to get crispy on the ends. Put in your beans, cover with water, some salt and just pinch of sugar. Boil the pot until there is no water left. Be sure to keep an eye on the pot and don't let the water all boil out. Let 'em boil about 15 minutes or so and turn down the heat and let 'em simmer a spell.
While their cooking, we'll boil some of that fresh corn on the cob and make up a pan of biscuits to go along. But I better make the biscuits, 'cause yours aren't so good yet. But you just keep tryin', you'll learn."
Of course, that is not exactly what my granny said, but it is pretty close. She cooked the best green beans on the planet and to this day I have never tasted any like hers, although my mom and I can get pretty close. I have to admit that these days my green beans are stringless and I am much more likely to steam them or saute them. But every once in a while, I get the urge to have them the way my granny cooked them and I wonder why I ever cook them any other way. I do use butter or margarine, in place of the "streaked meat" but basically nothing else is different. Try putting new potatoes on top of the beans and let them cook together. Or mix in some sweet corn, just cut off the cob and added just a few minutes before you serve the beans.
Served with a relish of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and peppers, in a sweet vinegar brine, it doesn't get any better!
Oh, and Granny was right. My biscuit making skills eventually improved.
