Friday, December 28, 2012

Garlic & Blue Cheese Green Bean Almondine – I Just Couldn’t Do It

When I went to culinary school in the early Eighties, the chef instructors used “Green Beans Almondine” as a prime example for the kind of stodgy, clichéd, faux-fancy, vegetable side dishes that we were supposed to eradicate shortly after graduation. 

This was the dawn of a new age of American cookery, and something so old-fashioned as green beans almondine had no place along side our newfangled raspberry vinaigrettes and cajun fish.

There was only one problem with this prohibition...green beans and almonds tasted really good together, and made for a lovely side dish once in a while. Of course, fearing you’d be laughed out of the young, hot cooks club (hot from heat, not from hotness) you just didn’t dare make or serve such a dinosaur.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I’ve finally done a green beans almondine video, but added roasted garlic and blue cheese to it, just in case any of my old classmates are watching.  I actually did this at Thanksgiving, sans nuts, and it got rave reviews, so I had a feeling the addition of the slivered almonds would work just fine, and they did! I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for 4-6 portions:
1 pound green beans, blanched in boiling, salted water until almost tender
3 heads garlic
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne to taste
1/3 cup sliced almonds browned in 1 tsp butter
2 oz Pt. Reyes blue cheese, or other blue cheese
400 degrees F. for 15 minutes

View the complete recipe

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Not a big fan of blue cheese, would goat cheese work as well?

Krista said...

That looks amazing and I look forward to trying it! I have a lot of Mizithra on hand and wondered if it would be good with that?

On a completely different note, I am looking for a wireless thermometer and wondered what brand you would recommend. There are a lot to chose from and I trust your judgement.

Chef John said...

Re: other cheeses. I've only done with blue. No way to know unless you try, so go for it and tell us.

Krista, sorry, but never had and experience with wireless thermometers. Just check amazon ratings.

S/V Blondie-Dog said...

Hey Chef,

This dish does indeed appear to be rather appetizing. Nevertheless my finicky lady-friend claims that she doesn't like "squeaky vegetables".

I on the other hand am most content to eat just about anything so long as it ain't out of a can.

Is there anyway I can remove the squeak out of the green beans while blanching or should I perhaps consider getting a new girlfriend?

Happy New Year! And as always, thanks!

Monica said...

I find green beans overrated maybe because i cooked them for years this could put them up a notch

Chef John said...

SV, You should do both. Cook until tender AND get a new girl. ;)

Unknown said...

Then I will have to let you know :). I was also playing with the idea of feta on there as well.

Heather said...

needs bacon

Heather Chachula said...

We made this the day after you posted it. It was amazing!!!! The blue cheese is so yummy on the beans. We paired it with BBQ steak on a portobello mushroom. Such a great combo of flavours.

Thanks for posting and keep the veggie side dish ideas coming. :)

michelou said...

For those afraid of blue cheese, I successfully substituted freshly grated parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

This dish is so so so good!

S/V Blondie-Dog said...

Hi Chef,

I made this dish and gotta say dat' I liked it a lot.

Nevertheless next time I make this dish I'll just use one head of garlic and not three. Seems to me that one would have been plenty much.

And next time I'll be sure to use but a smidgen of butter while toating the almond slices. Seems like I had a Paula Dean moment and got carried away with the butter.

In any event who knew that with but a bit of tricking-up, green beans could be so appetizing.

Thanks!

Unknown said...

Can i ask what are the cooking skills involved in the making of this dish?

Reesek said...

Clement Quan roasting, blanching, sauteing, and baking. Made this tonight and it was fabulous. I love anything with warm blue cheese. thanks chef!