Green Beans with Garlic and Smoked Olive Oil
This makes a delicious appetizer but I have also served them as a side dish with grilled steaks.
This makes a delicious appetizer but I have also served them as a side dish with grilled steaks.
- Carbohydrate 24.25585198575 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 3.78323313444734 g
- Fiber 11.5666057594345 g
- Protein 6.1915358505 g
- Saturated Fat 0.554470512349849 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Recipe (344g)
- Sodium 20.4791566500289 mg
- Sugar 12.6892462263155 g
- Trans Fat 0.193453283289195 g
- Calories 135 calories
Step-by-step
- Prepare a large bowl with ice and water.
- Bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil. Place green beans in water and blanch until still crisp (its about enough time if the water has started to boil again, but about 3 – 4 minutes -- Do not over cook the beans!). Immediately remove from boiling water and place in ice water bath until cool, then remove and let dry in strainer. Refrigerate until needed.
- Mince the garlic with a knife. In a small pan, heat olive oil and add the minced garlic. Saute for about 1 minute, you want to just cook garlic enough to remove the bitterness, remove from heat and add Smoked olive oil which should quickly cool the sizzling garlic
- Add salt (I use at least 1 tsp) and stir. Let cool completely.
- Place beans in a sealed container and pour in the cooled poached garlic mixture, shake vigorously. Place beans in alignment on a serving plate, then sprinkle with hazelnuts.
Standard green bean preparations usually rely on dry-heat roasting or long braises until tender, but this chilled method demands precise temperature control and aggressive chilling to preserve structural integrity. When boiling the trimmed pods, watch for the water to return to a rolling boil while keeping a strict three-to-four-minute timer, because failing to plunge the produce immediately into an ice bath will cause residual heat to degrade chlorophyll and turn the vegetables drab olive-green. Do not skip the ice bath, as thermal shock stops the cooking process instantly while maintaining a distinct snap.
The Reality of Raw Garlic and Smoked Oils
Mincing ten to twenty cloves yields a massive volume of sulfur compounds that require careful handling, and skipping the brief one-minute sauté in standard olive oil will leave an unpleasantly harsh, eye-watering bite on the palate. Adding the smoked olive oil directly to the hot pan immediately after removing it from the heat drops the temperature quickly, infusing the fat without burning the delicate aromatics. Smoked oils vary wildly in wood-smoke concentration depending on the manufacturer, so tasters must adjust the 1/3-cup measure cautiously if the smoke profile threatens to overpower the natural sweetness of the beans.Scaling and Structural Integrity
Doubling this preparation requires separating the components into multiple sealed containers during the shaking phase to ensure the marinade coats every surface evenly without breaking the delicate skins of the cooled pods. Toasting the hazelnuts beyond a light golden hue introduces bitterness that clashes with the heavy smoke of the oil, meaning chefs should watch for a fragrant aroma and immediate color shift before mincing them. Storing the marinated vegetables in the refrigerator for longer than twenty-four hours causes the cell walls to soften excessively in the oil-and-salt bath, destroying the crisp texture that defines the dish.
