Tennesee Eats: "Creole" Green Beans

A couple of Christmases ago, I received a fun cookbook as a gift from a special guy who wanted me to cook out of it. I love cookbooks and new recipes, so it was quite perfect.

Context: He's from the South, I'm from the Midwest. He's a city boy, and I'm a farm girl. Still, we're not so far apart as you might think, especially when it comes to what's for dinner.

There are a few foods that are foreign to one of us and not the other. Greens are (or rather, were) a mysterious food to me, while he has never tried the tasty joy that is lefse, or kuchen, or krumkake.

So, naturally, I picked up this cookbook and went straight for the most Midwestern-looking dish in there: green beans with bacon. I've had a relative or two bring these babies to a potluck, so I had some idea of what I was in for. Plus, anything involving bacon is bound to be good.

And it was. Oh it was.

It was delicious. Especially with that restaurant-style steak.

What to do: Steam the green beans until crisp-tender. Cook the bacon until it is crispy. Transfer the bacon to paper towels to blot and crumble.

Do not drain the grease from the pan! 

Saute the chopped onion and pepper in the bacon drippings until they are tender. Blend in the flour, brown sugar, Worcestershire, salt, pepper, and mustard. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook. If you find your tomatoes aren't very juicy, you can add a touch of water to help it get saucy. Add green beans and bacon crumbles and heat thoroughly.

Enjoy your little taste of the Midwestern South!