Crunchy green bean help
I've read the 'new ideas for green beans' thread withe the crunchy green beans recipes and realize I am a cooking imbecile, so have a couple of questions for anyone who made them... (holiday party this weekend - looking for a healthier, easy to make 'appetizer snacky' item to take)
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I like the frozen bean idea, but I also like the cooking spray instead of oil idea... Suggestions from anyone who has made these, or something similar, before? |
I do this with fresh green beans, but I think you can with frozen as well. I use 1 lb green beans and 2 teaspoons of olive oil. I usually just go glug glug with the worchestershire. Then I put them on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven at 375 until they almost burn. I can't tell you exactly how long I cook them. Just watch them and taste one every so often once you think they're almost done. Since I use fresh, a couple of the really skinny baby ones sometimes burn before I get the majority to the consistency I like. Using frozen, they should all be the same size, so this shouldn't be as much of a problem.
I have also used PAM and it works well too. When I used PAM I lightly sprayed the pan and then put the green beans on and sprayed again. One hint is that the green beans need to be in a single layer; they can't overlap each other. |
I have a similar recipe. I use fresh green beans from Sam's Club. They're very skinny long "haricots verts" (just the french name for green beans). I've never used any other green beans, because these are already washed and trimmed, and I just rinse and pat dry.
But then I toss them (in a ziploc bag) with just enough oil to make all of them damp with the oil after shaking. Usually one tablespoon is plenty. Then I pour in a couple teaspoons of dry ranch dressing mix (I buy it in bulk, but it's what's in the Hidden Valley Ranch mix packets) or mixed seasonings (garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt, pepper). Then I shake to coat the beans with the seasoning and poor onto a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees until they're wrinkly, and the very tips are just starting to turn black (this is the way I like them). I think with frozen, you might have to cook longer (on the other hand, since they're precooked, they might not take as long). The really thin green beans only take about 25 to 30 minutes to bake. Just keep checking on them and when you like the results, take them out. |
Thanks guys! Going to try it out tonight so if I fail miserably I have time to buy some bagged party mix...
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This is from the Martha Stewart Cookbook:
Fahrenheit Celsius Gas mark Description 225° 110° ¼ Cool 250° 130° ½ Cool 275° 140° 1 Very slow 300° 150° 2 Very slow 325° 170° 3 Slow 350° 180° 4 Moderate 375° 190° 5 Moderate 400° 200° 6 Moderately hot 425° 220° 7 Fairly hot 450° 230° 8 Hot 475° 240° 9 Very hot 500° 250° 10 Extremely hot Mark Bittman has a similar chart in "How to Cook Everything" ... but it doesn't have as many levels. I think the temp range is about the same. For me "very hot" means around 450 to 475. . |
That is the coolest chart I've ever seen. I'm going to print it out and tape it up by the stove (next to the one I printed out with common measurement and weight conversions...) Thanks!
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I'm curious to know what you wind up making and how they turn out. Let us know. |
Tonight I'm roasting veggies for dinner. Lots of veggies. So I threw some green beans into the toaster oven. The problem with roasting all kinds of different veggies is that they all need different times. So I have lots of pans in the oven and 2 in the toaster oven. :)
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I didn't think my frozen green beans were cooked. Perhaps blanched but not cooked. Now I have to go home and look.
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Okay, I'm in the process of making the beans and my first round of beans had black spots on the bottom when I turned them. Must have waited too long. Taste good so far though... going to see what happens... I'll update more when I get more done. :)
Edit: okay, after 40 minutes they were browinsh all over, I guess that is normal. What is the texture supposed to be like at the end? I ended up about 50/50 between really brown but crunchy all the way through and brown and crunchy on the outside, a little chewier on the inside and the not brown toasty spots. They did get all wrinkly, and the flavor is great... Going to see how batch two turns out. I used "Penzey's Sandwich Sprinkle" and ground black pepper as my spices. The blend has salt, garlic, onion powder, oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, majoram and something else I think... I'll look when I go back down. |
OK, I actually just bought a 2 lb. bag of those long thin green beans. I usually eat them plain-- they are so sweet. Sometimes I'll steam them and put a little bottled teriaki sauce and pieces of chicken, meat or shrimp and tell DH it's a stir fry. :D
I'm going to try the roasting thang and let y'all know if it is a blast or a bust. ;) |
The texture varies and it sounds like they're coming out just right. I've never had a batch where they've all been crunchy all the way through. I don't know if I'm impatient, or just paranoid about them getting too burnt. Even the little black spots are prefectly normal, and as long as they're tasting good you haven't overcooked them.
I've not burnt beans, but I have burnt caulifower and broccoli roasting them this way and it's amazing how veggies can go from needs to cook a little more to yucky burnt in what seems like just a few seconds. Luckily, after doing it a few times you start to get a feel for when to check, based on the smell. I made turnips this way tonight, and it's the first time I used turnips. I let them go a little too long before checking (about 30 minutes), and I was a couple minutes late. Most of them were still excellent, but a few were carbon critters. Note for next time, start checking at 20 minutes. You will also probably get a sense (literally) for what each vegetable's "done" smells like. I did this once with canned, diced beets. I drained them and patted them dry first (which is hard to do with canned veggies). And I cooked the bejeebies out of them (I think about 40 minutes), because I was craving hash browns, and I kept checking and checking waiting for them to get crisp. They were the weirdest little things, but they were very yummy. They didn't really get crisp, but they were really good (they did sort of look like shriveled up red hash browns). I've heard (here I think) of people doing the same with canned or leftover (cooked from dried) chickpeas. Baking till they're crunchy. I'm thinking of trying that next. |
Oh I love roasted chickpeas. A little olive oil, some salt and paprika ... mmmmmm. Cooked until crunchy. I have to be careful not to overdo with these.
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Shanon, it sounds like your first crack at it turned out really well. You've got my mouth watering! Really - sounds just right.
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How do I store the beans? They got a little squishy overnight...
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