I made 4th of July dinner for Katya and me and someone asked about the recipe for the beans I made because of the amazing photo Katya took of them (and my hand) below. I figured I should share that and the recipes for my Quick Garlic Butter and Homemade Garlic Bread. See below.
Italian Style Green Beans
Ingredients:
2-3 cups Fresh Green Beans
1 Small Roma Tomato
1/3 Onion
1/4-3/4 clove garlic (preference)
Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper, Parsley, Italian Seasoning
Fresh Parmesean Cheese
In a skillet or saucepan, sautee chopped onion and minced garlic in a tblspn of olive oil until garlic is golden and onion is carmelized. At the sime time, blanche the green beens in boiling water for 2-3 minutes then strain them. Place them immediately into ice water for appx. 30 seconds. Strain and set aside. After the onion has cooked down, add the diced tomato and sautee for 3 minutes. Add the green beans and season with salt, pepper, parsley and Italian seasoning (basic, oregano, etc) to taste. Sautee for 4-5 minutes. Green beans should still be slightly crispy when removed. Place beans, onion and tomato onto a serving dish and put a handfull of fresh parmesean cheese and on top. Serve hot.
Serves 2
Quick Garlic Butter
Ingredients:
1 stick salted butter
1 tblspn garlic powder
1/2 tblspn onion powder
1-2 tblspns parsley
Mix soft room-temperature butter (you can melt slightly in the microwave if the butter is cold) with the garlic powder and onion powder. Mix in small amounts of the powders and test the butter as you go for the right amounts. Once you’ve found the right mix, add the parsley and mix together. Serve on hot French or Italian bread.
Jeff’s Homemade Garlic Bread
1 stick of Quick Garlic Butter (see above)
1 loaf French Bread
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice bread down center to create two sandwich halves. Coat both sides with Quick Garlic Butter. Leave a tspn or so of the Quick Garlic Butter for the top. Put the two halves back together like a sandwich then coat the top of the bread with the remaining butter and poke shallow holes in the top of the bread with a fork. Wrap the loaf in tinfoil and place directly on top oven rack for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown on top. For an added treat, add grated parmesean cheese to the top before wrapping in tinfoil.
Serves 4-6