Green Beans, Take 2

I was headed home today daydreaming about making szechuan green beans, but when I actually got back, in a sheer fit of laziness (not wanting to walk an extra 20 feet to grab my computer and look up my recipe), I decided to look for  recipes in the cookbooks by the kitchen.  Am I ever glad that I did.  The second book I pulled off the shelf was More Best Recipes by the folks of Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen.  In this book series (I'm told that their Best 30-Minute Recipe is one of the top cookbooks around), the editors take a fairly common food and, through dozens and dozens of test runs and experiments, come up with the perfect, foolproof recipe.

Well, after checking the index, I discovered that a full four pages were devoted to green beans, both sauteed and roasted.  The common problem they saw with the former was that by the time the beans were cooked, the outsides were usually black and burnt.  Their solution?  Saute the green beans for six minutes, add a small bit of water and cover the pan, thus steaming them for two minutes, then uncover and turn up the heat to evaporate any leftover water, and finish sauteeing along with the flavorings/spices for two more minutes.  The result? Perfection.  Just the right amount of browning and wrinkling, fully cooked, yet still with a crisp bite.

Luckily for you, this recipe (along with variations, but without the long explanation of the recipe's development) is online!  I made the first variation, with smoked paprika and almonds.

Cook's Illustrated Sauteed Green Beans with Garlic and Herbs

Green Beans Galore

This morning I headed out to a friend's family's small farm in Michigan.  Thanks to their generosity, another gal and I each came back with two buckets full of green beans after about an hour and a half of work.  This afternoon I've been blanching and freezing them.  One thing I like to do with fresh beans is to make Szechuan Green Beans like they serve at J. W. Chen's (see the previous post).  I actually didn't remember the name of the dish when I tried to replicate it, but it turns out that what I did is pretty similar to recipes online.  You'll also find my attempt at their Honey Chicken later in this post.

Green Beans à la Mrs. Chen's

• 12 oz. fresh green beans (there's no good reason for that quantity, it's simply the amount I happened to get from CSA last week)
• 1-2 T sesame oil
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 tsp. fresh ginger
• 1 tsp. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp. rice vinegar
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. sherry
• 1/4 tsp. sesame seeds
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Heat oil in saucepan on medium-high. Add garlic and ginger and sauté for one minute. Add green beans and cook, stirring frequently, until they are dark green and crisp-tender.  Stir in remaining ingredients and continue to heat for a minute or two.

Honey Chicken à la Mrs. Chen's 

For this, I started with an online recipe but made some major adjustments.  The sauce would easily work with stir-fried chicken instead of batter-fried.

• 1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken, cut into 1" pieces
• oil for deep frying

Batter:

• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup water

Sauce (some of the amounts are approximate; I was unaware of exactly how much I added of various things):

• 1 1/2 T. oil
• 1 T. ginger, minced
• 3 T. garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 c. honey
• 3/4 c. water
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1 T. rice wine vinegar
• 2 tsp. soy sauce
• 1 T. cornstarch, mixed with 1 T. water

• Sesame seeds (to garnish)

1. Mix all ingredients for batter, cover, and let sit for 30 minutes.  Be ye not surprised, it will be fairly thin.

2. Heat oil to 350 degrees.  Coat chicken with batter and deep fry in batches until thoroughly cooked and golden.  Drain on paper towels.

3. To make sauce, saute ginger and garlic in the oil in a medium saucepan.  Mix in all remaining ingredients except cornstarch, stirring well.  Add cornstarch mixture and simmer until thick.

4. Coat chicken with sauce, and garnish with sesame seeds.  Accompany with rice.

Serves 4.