Combine the almighty green bean with a healthy dose of bacon fat, caper juice, and shallots and you have a perfect side dish. Pour yourself a glass of wine, top with a poached egg, and enjoy the blanched beans for a whole meal.
By Jane Poretsky
What happens when you take the almighty green bean and dress it with a healthy dose of bacon fat, caper juice and shallots? You may find yourself reminiscing about a colder thursday in November and yearning for a juicy slice of turkey. Alternatively, you may pass on your main course and just move the bowl of rich and salty vegetables towards your side of the table. 
Or maybe, you’re like me, and you pretend you have a glass of rosé in one hand, and a view of the French riviera not far from your line of sight. Oh, the things I would do. I rarely use bacon, and if I do, the fat is always poured down the drain. This time, I tossed blanched beans in the pan that the bacon was cooked in. Fear not, I didn’t lick or slurp remaining fats. The stringy greens did what a good pasta would; accept but not absorb {the fat}. Glistening, briny and meaty, you must serve this right away because otherwise the porky pork (yes, I said it) will lose it’s crisp.
You know what? Slide a few poached eggs over this, and what word comes to mind? B-R-U-N-C-H.
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Green Beans with Bacon and Caper-Shallot Dressing
Description
Combine the almighty green bean with a healthy dose of bacon fat, caper juice, and shallots and you have a perfect side dish. Pour yourself a glass of wine, top with a poached egg, and enjoy the blanched beans for a whole meal.
Ingredients
- 1 lb string beans, ends trimmed (you can also use haricots vert)
- 4 slices of thick cut bacon, chopped
- 2 tbs jumbo capers
- 1 tbs caper juice from the bottle
- 1 shallot, minced
- dash of white wine vinegar
Instructions
- Bring a medium-size pot of water to a rolling boil. Season it generously with kosher or sea salt.
- Prepare an ice-bath to cool the beans in immediately after they have cooked. This is just a large bowl filled with ice water.
- Add the trimmed beans and boil them until they are tender but not mushy (about 5-6 minutes for American beans, 3-4 for haricots verts). Using a slotted spoon, drop the beans into ice bath and allow them to sit in the water while you cook the bacon.
- On a medium high heat, fry up bacon pieces.
- Once it is dark and crisp, add shallots, capers, juice and white wine vinegar. Give everything a good toss, turn off the heat.
- Dry the green beans well. You really don’t want to add water into your pan. Add them to the bacon. Add a teeny sprinkle of salt and some fresh cracked pepper. Using tongs, coat the beans in the bacon fat and caper juice. Then (again, using tongs) place them on your dish/plate/bowl. Leave any excess fat in the pan. You can reserve it to cook with later, or discard.
- Category: Side
