Cooking Green Beans, German-style

➤ by Oma Gerhild Fulson

Yum

Cooking green beans, German-style, makes  wonderful side dish for almost any meal. Cooked till just tender with a creamy white sauce. This one is reminiscent of the way my Mutti cooked many vegetables. Most common were a mix of peas and carrots. Another, were these green beans. And, being green beans, the best herb to season them with is Bohnenkraut (bean herb) ... a type of summer savory.

Don't want the cream sauce? Then drizzle the cooked beans with some browned butter and sprinkle with grated cheese. Also very German.

Cooking Green Beans, German-style

Ingredients:

• 1½ lb frozen green beans
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp summer savory
  
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 2 Tbsp flour
• about ½ cup vegetable broth or water
• salt, pepper
• chopped parsley (optional)

Instructions:

• Put the frozen green beans in a saucepan and add water to almost cover. Add salt. Bring to boil and simmer for about 8 minutes or until just tender.
• Pour the beans into a sieve to drain, reserving the cooking liquid. 
• Into the saucepan, melt the butter and add the diced onion. Sautee for several minutes until the onion is transparent (but not browned). 
• Stir in the flour and cook for about  1 minute.
• Stir in about 1 cup of the cooking liquid and continue to cook, stirring, and adding more liquid if the sauce gets too thick. Simmer for about 5 minutes, adding more liquid if needed. If you run out of cooking liquid, use vegetable broth or water.
• Return the cooked beans to the sauce and season with salt and pepper, if needed. Add chopped parsley (if desired).
• Makes 4 - 6 servings.

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Above, I've served the creamed green beans with boiled potatoes, pan-fried pork chops and some leftover gravy from Sunday's pork roast adding a bit more cream plus the cooking fat/juices from the pork chops to make a wonderful gravy for this meal. From start to finish, this meal took 45 minutes to put onto the table. Yummy deliciousness!

Using Fresh Green Beans?

If you've got some wonderful fresh green beans, hopefully right out of your garden, then all you need to do is to snip the ends off. Pull any 'string' off the length, wash and either leave whole or cut into pieces. Use the same recipe as above, but it may take a few minutes longer for the beans to cook until just tender.

Using Canned Green Beans?

Follow the same recipe as above, starting by draining the beans in a sieve, keeping the liquid, and starting right with the sauce. 

Some German Cabbage Recipes ...

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