Make Ahead Blanched Green Beans

Page 230

| Course Type: Sides

(1 review)

Tags: vegetables CI's cooking concept blanching

Recipe Review

This simple set of instructions guides the cook through cooking beans to nearly perfect texture, and then dunking them into ice water. The idea is that this critical step is the precursor for many green bean recipes, and is the key for preparing beans so they are neither over-cooked nor undercooked. The blanched green beans then wait in their cold/ice water until dinner is about to be placed on the table, and a quick warm is is all that is needed.

This recipe teaches of Cook's Illustrated Cooking Concept 24: Green Vegetables like it hot - then cold.

This concept is that what we want is tender vegetables but ones that look vibrant. The book goes into detail on the biochemical changes in cells and cell walls that accompany cooking. The background information is excellent - it describes accurately the pH dependence of green vegetables turning that sickly yellow-green color, and admonishes the cook to quickly blanch the vegetables to prevent that color change.

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Comments

Zosia - 7th January 2013
I love the method of blanching vegetables first...I only became aware of the beauty of it when I started to cook from Plenty a year ago.
I just came across a recipe in the Olive and the Caper that called for green beans to be cooked for 45min with tomatoes and white wine (acidic environment). I can't even imagine what the finished colour and texture would be. The dish would probably be wonderful made with blanched green beans added to the sauce at the very end.

Queezle_Sister - 7th January 2013
Possibly a recipe developed by a color-blind person? Although the texture would probably also not be to my liking!
Nevertheless - I'm looking forward to digging into the Olive and the Caper.

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