I passed the local mall last Friday and noticed the Farmer's Market all set up with local growers offering their fresh produce. Yes, Summer is the best time for flavorful fruits and veggies, picked at the peak of perfection.
You will also notice your friendly neighborhood grocery store offering fresher items: corn-on-the-cob, local watermelon, tomatoes, purple-hulled peas, and what seems to be everybody's favorite, the green bean.
Did you know there are over 130 different varieties of green beans? They are almost universally grown, and are cultivated as bush plants, or pole beans. You may also hear the terms "snap beans" or "string beans", but they're all the same - a regular old green bean.
Now we've all eaten green beans from a can; pour them in a little quart pan and heat them up. If you're fancy, you might throw in some new potatoes. And then there's the old Thanksgiving stand-by, Green Bean Casserole: a can of green beans, drained and smothered in Cream of Mushroom soup and topped with French Fried Onions. But I'm going even one step further....Bacon Wrapped Green Beans. Because we all know, BACON makes everything BETTER!!
For this recipe, you can use canned green beans (you will need 2 cans of WHOLE green beans), but if you really want the best taste, use FRESH green beans (1-1/2 to 2 lbs). Ideally, you want the bean to be about 3 inches long - they don't have to be exact, but 3 inches makes the most visually pleasing display.
Bacon Wrapped Green Beans
Green Beans - See the note above
1 lb bacon
3 - 5 TBSP butter
1/2 Cup (more or less) Brown Sugar
Toothpicks
Trim your beans to 3 inches in length (or there abouts). Cut your bacon into thirds. Take about 4 green beans and wrap tightly in a piece of bacon. Secure with a toothpick. (Try to get the toothpick through an actual bean if you can, that will make it the most secure.) Continue to wrap your beans in bacon and secure with toothpicks until the entire batch is done.
Now there are a couple of ways you can cook them. You can throw them all in a crock pot, with your butter and brown sugar and let them cook for about 3 hours on low. You can put them in a 9 x 13 baker with the butter and brown sugar and bake them at 375 for an hour (here is my disclaimer on this one --- an hour doesn't always mean an hour. What you are looking for the bacon to be DONE!! Lightly browned and slightly crispy!! Your oven may take more or less time).
But my favorite way to cook them, is to start them in a skillet on the stove. Just put the bacon wrapped beans over medium heat. When the bacon starts to get lightly crisp, turn the beans over to cook on the other side. About five minutes into cooking on this side, add your butter and brown sugar. Continue to cook until your bacon is done, turning as needed.
If you have used canned green beans, you're done when your bacon gets done. If you have used fresh green beans, pour the entire contents into a crock pot and cook on low for about an hour.
Let me just warn you right now.....you will NEVER have enough of these!! They are just that yummy!! So this summer, enjoy some fresh green beans, with the flavor of bacon and brown sugar to sweeten the deal.
