Standard Recipes-Green Bean Salad | Toronto Standard | News ...

Food & Drink ?|?By Andreas Duess?|?September 10, 2011

There?s a dish in almost everybody?s life that pushes back the years and makes us feel like we?re seven years old again. For some that?s mac and cheese, for others it?s bangers and mash or pasta with meatballs. Whatever the dish, chances are that it is both simple and comforting, whatever your personal and cultural background might be.? For me it is my grandmother?s, and later my mother?s, green bean salad, simple; unpretentious and dressed with nothing more than a silky and slightly sweet vinaigrette. The salad brings back memories of lazy Sunday lunches at my grandparent?s farm, out back in the rose garden, which was taboo for unaccompanied children and opened only for special occasions and celebrations. In contrast, we were allowed to roam freely in the vegetable?garden, chomping away on radishes and carrots fresh from the soil that had been given little more than the most cursory cleanse in the watering barrel and were frequently shared with the horses living in a neighbouring ?eld.? So, here are the keys to my childhood:

Top and tail a pint of fresh green beans. This time of year you can pick them up from the famer?s market of your choice, all crisp and snappy.? While you?re getting the beans ready, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, large enough to hold the beans without crowding them.? When ready, add the beans and lower the heat to a lively simmer. Skim?away all scum that might form on the surface.? Now, prepare your dressing, which is a basic vinaigrette, slightly sweetened with maple syrup.? I?ve updated the recipe a little and use olive oil, my mother uses vegetable oil, but don?t pull out all the stops ? a simple and not too peppery supermarket oil will do just ?ne here.

You?ll need:

-6tbsp Olive oil

-2 tbsp red wine vinegar

-1 teasp Dijon mustard

-a dash of maple syrup, enough to lend a little sweetness but not enough to get cloying

-Salt

-One French shallot, diced as ?nely as you can get it. if you can?t get your?hands on shallots, a small red onion and 1/2 a clove of garlic will work too,?again diced as ?ne as you can.

Like with many things that appear simple on the surface, cooks everywhere have managed to elevate the vinaigrette,?or sauce ravigote, into a bit of a mystery. But fear not, at its heart, the vinaigrette is nothing more than what?s called an unstable emulsion, a mixture of water and oil that, given time, will separate back into its components ? unlike mayonnaise for example, which is a stable emulsion and a little harder to get right. The original French cookery Bible, Larousse Gastronomique, offers this advice. ?Dissolve a little salt in 1tbsp vinegar,? it counsels. ?Add 3tbsp oil and some pepper.? And that?s it, according to the French ? all else is mere flavouring. As this is an emulsion, it now needs to be emulsified, which traditionally happens via a vigorous application of the hand whisk. Thomas Keller, a man known for his somewhat obsessive relationship with food, recommends using a blender. His reasoning is that the violent action involved creates an emulsion that is both smoother and more stable than what can be achieved by hand. Larousse recommends a much simpler method of marrying the ingredients, which is my personal favourite and gets you a result that will rival Keller?s method without all the fuss of assembling heavy kitchen machinery: put all your ingredients in a small glass jar, close the lid, and shake it about vigorously. Unlike with a blender, you can use this method to prepare a small portion of dressing, useful if there?s just one or two of you for dinner.

Once your beans are done, you want them to be cooked through, but still retain a snappy little bite. Drain them and shock them in a bowl of very cold water. This will stop them from overcooking and taking on the ?oppy nature of beans from a jar-that favourite of third class diners everywhere.? Get them out of the cold water and into a large bowl containing half your vinaigrette and the diced onions or shallots. Mix everything well together, add the remainder of the dressing and refrigerate for a minimum of six hours, ideally over night.? Eat outside, with some good bread and a chunk of strong cheddar for company. If possible, feed a carrot to a horse.

?

Source: http://www.torontostandard.com/daily-cable/standard-recipes-green-bean-salad

marc jacobs amex amex canoe arundhati roy arundhati roy brody jenner