My dinner last night was an improvised Thai Massaman curry with chicken tenderloins and red bell peppers. I had actually expected to make a red curry, but found that my curry paste (which I bought long ago) was a massaman curry paste. Massaman curry often has potatoes, but I didn’t feel like that, so I just went with sliced red bell pepper, and a sliced shallot. I didn’t even have any limes, fresh herbs, or fish sauce.
Recently I had a craving for Southern-style vegetables: cooked for a long time with a cured pork product. I saw some nice Romano beans at the market, and decided they’d be just the thing. I had wanted to cook some when they were in season last year, but never got a chance.
Romano beans are a type of broad, flat snap bean. Depending on when they were harvested, they could be suited for either fast cooking, like most green beans, or long cooking. The Southern style for snap beans is to cook them for a long time with cured pork. This recipe is my take on a standard, simple Southern recipe for snap beans.
Continue reading for a method to check if your beans need stringing, and a recipe for romano beans »
