Holt Cuisine

In my search for the tender green bean, I decided to try the Instant Pot rather than the microwave for the initial cooking step.  I bought a large bag of “washed and trimmed” beans – 2 lbs – so that I could try the beans 3 ways. I went through the bag and checked them for stems (probably 10-15 beans still had stems), and rewashed them. Then I put them in the steamer basket of my Instant Pot and steamed them for 3 minutes.  Then I immediately put them in an ice bath to stop the cooking. They were very tender. In fact they bordered on mushy. I separated them into three bunches. I put some in the freezer, seasoned some for a sheet pan meal, and some others for Stir Fried Rice (see below).  But I felt like I needed more research, so back to the grocery store. This time I got regular and French beans.  I steamed the regular beans at 1 and 2 minutes in the instant pot. I steamed the French beans for 0 and 1 minute.  Then I roasted them all for 30 minutes at 325. ...

Ever since I tried to make green beans in a sheet pan meal, I have meant to get back to them. I still haven’t been very successful in getting them to cook on a sheet pan, but I keep tweaking the method, hopefully. I know that for many people, a chewy green bean is ok. I’m a little weird because I want them to be fully tender, but not mushy and still bright green. I know… You can’t always get what you want – but I can try.  I grew up on canned green beans. They were a bit mushy and usually a grey green color. I bought a can to feed to my grandson. They seemed the right consistency for someone who doesn’t have molars yet. He was un-interested and after tasting them I had to admit he had a point.  I remember my sister saying that you had to cook green beans for a long time to get the can flavor out of them. This makes sense. You have to get the can flavor out and put something else in. When I was a child it was usually bacon or salt pork. Once my mother started learning to cook w...