Green Beans Almondine

We've been enjoying the most wonderful locally grown produce all summer long; green beans being one of our favorites.  We usually eat them raw or steamed, but every now and then I like to dress them up a bit by making Green Beans Almondine, a very simple recipe that screams gourmet.  Here's how to make it.

Start by melting a pat of butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. 

Add almonds, sliced or slivered, and slowly heat them, stirring frequently, until they're golden brown.

Don't be tempted to raise the heat during this process; almonds burn easily so take your time. Here you can see my almonds are about halfway there - another minute and they'll be perfect.

When the almonds are done, remove them from the skillet and set aside until needed.

No need to wipe out the skillet - increase the heat to medium-high and add the green beans.

Add water (or in this case, chicken stock) and cover skillet so the beans can steam.

Let's take a peek and see if our beans are done - I like to cook green beans until they're crisp-tender.  

Crisp Tender: to cook food to the stage where it is tender, but still crisp.

As soon as the green beans are cooked the way you like them, remove them from the heat, season with salt and pepper, sprinkle on all the buttery almonds, and give everything a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.  That's it.  Simple, right?

Ok, traditionally this is not done, but I hate to miss an opportunity to make a quick pan sauce so I whisked a pat of butter into the chicken stock that was left over in the skillet when I steamed my green beans.  I wouldn't have done this if I had used water to steam my beans.  

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• sliced almonds https://amzn.to/35ZZHwU

• rondeau https://amzn.to/3cssRH8

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Green Beans Almondine

makes 4 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds

• 1 pound fresh green beans, washed and trimmed

• 1/4 cup water or stock

• juice of 1/2 lemon

• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium-low heat, melt butter and cook almonds until golden brown, stirring frequently; remove from pan and reserve until needed.

2. In the same skillet, increase heat to medium-high and add green beans and water (or stock). Cover and cook beans until they're crisp-tender.

3. Place green beans in a serving dish and season with salt and pepper, then top with reserved almonds and squeeze fresh lemon juice over all.

Blue Ribbon Chewy Chocolate Cookies

Today I'm sharing our family's favorite chewy chocolate cookies, which means you're only 8 ingredients away from these national cookie contest winners becoming your family's favorite too.  They're so good, every time I share them, I hear, "Oh my, you MUST give me this recipe!"    Let me show you how easy they are to make so you can whip up a batch whenever you want.

Start by creaming unsalted butter and sugar together until light and creamy.  I do this with a BeaterBlade attachment so I don't have to stop and scrape down the bowl of my stand mixer.  Love that thing!  

In a separate bowl, whisk together sifted cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, and fine salt.

Be sure to use really high quality dutch-processed cocoa powder for really good flavor.

Add the cocoa mixture to the butter and mix until no signs of dry ingredients remain.  Then add the egg and pure vanilla extract.

Wrap the cookie dough in plastic and chill for a least 1 hour.  This step is really important so don't skip it.  

For professional looking cookies, use a #50 scoop to portion out the cookie dough (it's roughly the size of a tablespoon).  If at any time the cookie dough gets too soft, pop it back in the fridge.

Incidentally, the cookie dough freezes beautifully (as do the baked cookies).  Just be sure to wrap the dough very well in plastic wrap and store it in an airtight container - this can be done as a whole batch of dough, or individual balls.  Thaw the wrapped cookie dough in the fridge before unwrapping, rolling, and coating with sugar.  

Roll the cookie dough into balls, then coat with granulated sugar.  Vanilla sugar is nice too.

Space 12 cookies evenly on two silpat lined half sheet pans (bake only one pan at a time).  You can use parchment paper, but I've test both surfaces and silpats work better for these cookies.  

Bake for about 9 or 10 minutes - cool completely.

These cookies are simply spectacular.  Enjoy!

Items needed to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• excellent quality cocoa powder https://amzn.to/35M0qpc

• the best vanilla extract https://amzn.to/3r9wNGK

• vanilla sugar https://amzn.to/3Jc4bme

• #50 cookie scoop https://amzn.to/3JrSubx

• silat silicone liners https://amzn.to/3HCz035

• professional sheet pans https://amzn.to/34pWo5x

• beaterblade https://amzn.to/34HEVFr

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Blue Ribbon Chewy Chocolate Cookies

makes 24 cookies

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 6 tablespoons dutch processed cocoa, sifted (use really good quality)

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• granulated sugar to roll cookie dough in before baking (or use vanilla sugar)

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; set aside until needed.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater or BeaterBlade attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes until it lightens in color.

3. Add egg and pure pure vanilla extract; continue to mix until no traces of egg remain.

4. Turn mixer speed down to low; add cocoa mixture and combine until no traces of dry flour or cocoa remain, scraping bowl if needed.

5. Wrap dough in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour.

6. Preheat oven to 350F, place rack in center of oven, and line 2 half sheet pans with silpat liners.

7. Using a #50 scoop (about 1 tablespoon), roll level scoops of chilled cookie dough in the palm of your hand to form a ball; coat with granulated sugar and space evenly on sheet pan, 12 per pan.

8. Bake for 9-10 minutes; remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.