From the time I started dating my husband, he talked about his grandma’s cooking, and how I should learn to make some of her dishes. Her famous “One Pot”, her peanut butter cookies, and, his favorite, her Fried Green Beans. Yep, that’s right, my husband actually WILL eat a green vegetable…. as long as its fried.We all know how life can get away from you, and sure enough, his Grandma passed away just a month before we were married. I never did get the chance to ask her about any of her recipes, which I honestly figured she had never written down anyway, as most old farm wives cooked that way.
I tried to make the Fried Green Beans on several occasions based on the hubs’ memory, and he enjoyed them thoroughly, even though there was definitely something missing.
Last summer, I was looking for another recipe, and remembered that Matt’s sister inherited Grandma’s recipe box. A large plastic contraption jam packed with newspaper clippings and scrawling notes on scraps of paper and envelopes. We sat down at the kitchen table and scoured the collection for a certain “Custard Pie” recipe. Hidden among the pages was a newspaper scrap, yellow with age (the reverse says it is from “The Workbasket”, August, 1986), holding this heading, “Chicken Fried Green Beans”. Hallelujah! This scrap of paper now resides in MY recipe box, and when the hubs has been especially decent, I dust it off for a special treat.
Now, this is far from the battered version of Fried Green Beans that you will find at restaurants like TGI Friday’s, but even I have to admit, there is something kinda tasty about them. The recipe just calls for a can of green beans, but Grandma always made them with French Cut Green Beans, so that’s what I do, too. Also, I would bread these immediately before frying. If you let them sit too long after dredging them in the flour mixture, the moisture in the beans is absorbed into the coating and they start to clump together. These are best if they stay separated. Add a little extra flour, if necessary.
Last night I served this on the side of Chicken Fried Steak. I figured I might as well stay with the theme.
2 comments:
That's so cool that you found the recipe!
Because the mother MADE my grandmother write down some of her more famous dishes, we have those, written in her own hand. LOVE that!
I LOVE the fried green beans at TGIF's. These look great too! That's awesome you were able to recover some of her recipes!!!!
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