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LUCY BURDETTE: We've had a big problem in our house this summer: way too many green beans.
Of course I put the problem out to my Facebook friends. And got some amazing recipe suggestions
back, ranging from Asian style to good old-fashioned southern green
beans cooked a long time with bacon (I think that might have been Kathy Reel,) and, I was reminded about how
delicious pickled green beans are.
One of the best Bloody Marys I was
ever served used green beans as the stirrer for the drink.
(I like interesting items in my Bloody Marys, especially
olives, pepperoncini, and pickled green beans or okra. The night I got one with a shrimp on a skewer, I thought maybe they had gone off the deep end.)
This recipe for pickled dilly green beans is an easy one, but the results
need to be stored in the refrigerator. If you want to put some
by for the winter months, you would need to cook the jars of beans in a
boiling water bath. Don't fool around with this, as I would hate to see
friends done in by botulism!
Ingredients
4 1/2 cups of green beans
2 cups white vinegar
2 cups water
5 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons kosher salt
Four large heads of dill
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
Two cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes or two hot peppers
Combine the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a sauce pan and
simmer until the ingredients are well combined. Nestle the dill sprigs, the peppercorns, the garlic cloves, and
the red pepper into clean quart canning
jars.
Wash the green beans, clip off the ends, and blanch them about three
minutes in boiling water. When they are still green and firm, dump them
into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. When the beans are cool,
arrange them in the canning jars. Divide the hot vinegar mixture
between the two jars and seal the lids. Refrigerate.
The beans can be eaten any time after 24 hours. Of course I had to
sample one right away. The marinade will get stronger and more delicious as time passes.
Recipe for Bloody Mary right here...
Lucy Burdette is the author of the Key West food critic mysteries.
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Hi, this is Hayley Snow, the food critic from Lucy Burdette's Key West mysteries. One of my favorite writers, Deborah Crombie, asked me to talk about Thanksgiving in Paradise--that's Key West for those of you who don't know me.
To be completely honest, sometimes I do miss the way we used to celebrate the holiday in New Jersey
--it was all about tradition. And we rarely broke from it. But I can remember one year when Mom felt sorry for a family who'd recently moved to the neighborhood from South Carolina. They knew no one and so they invited us. My father and grandmother and I grumbled like mad, but Mom held firm and we carted our side dishes and pies and relish trays up the street to their house. Oh horror of horrors, there were no mashed potatoes on the menu--only white rice!
Well, Thanksgiving doesn't have to be traditional in Paradise. If you're unhappy about your meal or sad about your family, heck, you can ride your bike to the beach and have a picnic. Or pop down to Louie's Backyard for a cocktail on the deck overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. And if you don't feel like cooking at all while in Paradise, plenty of local restaurants will do the work for you.
But we're definitely cooking at Miss Gloria's houseboat. Eric and Bill will be there, and Miss Gloria of course, and Danielle and Wally. Even Officer Torrence said he might stop by. And when we're done eating, I'll take some leftovers to the guys at Mallory Square. Because what good is a fabulous spread if you don't share it?
Here's what's on our menu: Guacamole, pimento cheese, and bloody Marys to start, turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes and turnips, brussel sprouts sautéed with shallots and bacon, pumpkin pie, and cranberry sauce out of a can--because that's the only kind Miss Gloria will eat. Oh, and two kinds of chocolate...
When my guests first arrive, I like to ply them with the best ever bloody Mary. For hors d'oeuvres, I've decided on pimento cheese dip and guacamole.
And to go with the turkey:Pumpkins stuffed with cornbread, leeks, cheese, and bacon
Cornmeal-sausage stuffing
For dessert, I love to bake, but it's awfully tempting to order pies from the Old Town Bakery.
Then I'll save my baking for two chocolate treats, Scarlet O'Hara Cupcakes and a really easy chocolate cake that came directly from my grandmother's recipe box.
And finally, here's what I'll do with any leftover turkey.
