Fresh Green Beans & New Potatoes

I just love fresh vegetables. And there is nothing better than garden fresh, unfortunately, I don?t have one. So I depend on farmers markets, local produce stands and weekly market day to get homegrown or farm fresh produce.




This week is going to be about good ?ol southern vegetables and how I was taught to cook ?em. Today, it?s about pole beans.




There are two main types of beans: pole beans and bush beans. Pole beans and half runner beans tend to have more flavor. Pole beans grow on a tall vine and produce beans continuously during the growing season and yield a larger overall harvest in the same amount of garden space as bush-type beans.




These are three varieties from Victory Seeds that I remember and think are interesting:

Kentucky Wonder (Old Homestead)

68 Days ? A green pole bean with long, fleshy and stringless pods when young and tender.

McCaslan

66 Days ? An old Southern favorite introduced in 1912 by the McCaslan family of Georgia. Its pods are up to eight inches long and used as snap (green or string) beans or shelled. The seeds are plump and white.

Riggin's Stick

68 Days (100 to dry stage) ? From Mark Chappel whose family in Kentucky, on his mother's side, have handed down these beans since before the civil war. They simply called them "Stick Beans" as tobacco sticks were used as support for the heavy vines to climb on. The stick beans are a favorite and they have a real "beany", almost meaty flavor.



Beans taste best when eaten fresh, but they will keep for a week to 10 days if you store them in a perforated plastic bag in the crisper drawer of a refrigerator.




Fresh Green Beans & New Potatoes


3 pounds fresh green beans
1/4 pound salt pork -sliced
1/4 cup bacon grease
2 cups chicken broth, plus more if needed
2 to 3 teaspoons Kitchen Seasoning (mixture of salt, pepper & garlic)
12 small red potatoes
1 onion -cut into slivers
1/2 stick unsalted butter
Ground black pepper
2 fresh thyme leaves -optional
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Trim the ends from the beans and snap in half, place into a colander, wash, and drain. Set aside.

In a large stockpot, lightly cook over medium heat the salt pork in the bacon grease, turning often. Put the green beans in and stir with a wooden spoon to coat well with the fat. Add the broth and Kitchen Seasoning. Cover tightly and cook over medium-low heat for approximately 30 minutes.

While the beans are cooking, peel a center strip from each new potato with a potato peeler. At the end of the 30 minutes, add the potatoes and onion to the beans, add 1/4 cup more broth if needed along with the butter, pepper to taste and thyme. Covered tightly and cook another 25 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Check often to make sure a small amount of liquid remains.

When the potatoes are tender, ajar the lid slightly to the side of the pot, add the vinegar and continue to cook until the beans wilt slightly about 15 minutes more.




Note: For folks preferring to omit the salt pork and bacon grease, it?s okay, just add a little oil of your choice. Momma believed the beans should be coated in grease and I?m sticking to it.