Creamed Peas and Southern Style Green Beans

As you already know I made Southern themed dinner for my group The Dinner Diva's on Saturday. I wanted to go traditional with the sides without it being too heavy and hopefully I achieved that. I really liked the peas more than the green beans. The peas are basically cooked in a bechamel sauce which is very tasty. Thank you to my friend Carolyn from bakespace for helping out with this recipe! My issue with the beans are that they are sweet and sour. I like sweet and sour meatballs but not my veggies. I should have remembered that I made spinach this way once before. It just didn't appeal to me but the girls liked it...well, at least they said they did!


Southern Style Green Beans

Courtesy of Rachael Ray

4 servings

Ingredients:

1 1/4 pounds green beans, trimmed and chopped into 1-inch pieces
2 slices bacon, chopped
1 small onion, minced
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar

Directions:

Cook green beans in 1-inch simmering water, covered, for 6 minutes. Drain and set aside. Return skillet to stove and set burner to medium high. Add bacon and brown. When fat begins to render, add chopped onions to the pan and cook until tender with the bacon. Add cooked green beans to the pan and turn to coat in bacon drippings and onions. When the beans are hot and bacon crisp at edges and onions translucent add vinegar to the pan and season with beans with sugar. Allow the vinegar to evaporate and the sugar to combine with pan drippings, 1 to 2 minutes, then serve.


Creamed Peas

Courtesy of Carolyn - posted on bakespace.com

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk*
about 2 cups fresh or frozen peas

DIRECTIONS:

Melt butter in saucepan. Add flour and salt, stir well until combined add milk and bring to a boil. Stir until slightly thickened. Stir in cooked peas. Serve over mashed potatoes if you wish.


*Michele's Note - If the roux becomes too thick when you add in the peas just add a little more milk and it will thicken up again.

Creamed Peas and Southern Style Green Beans

As you already know I made Southern themed dinner for my group The Dinner Diva's on Saturday. I wanted to go traditional with the sides without it being too heavy and hopefully I achieved that. I really liked the peas more than the green beans. The peas are basically cooked in a bechamel sauce which is very tasty. Thank you to my friend Carolyn from bakespace for helping out with this recipe! My issue with the beans are that they are sweet and sour. I like sweet and sour meatballs but not my veggies. I should have remembered that I made spinach this way once before. It just didn't appeal to me but the girls liked it...well, at least they said they did!


Southern Style Green Beans

Courtesy of Rachael Ray

4 servings

Ingredients:

1 1/4 pounds green beans, trimmed and chopped into 1-inch pieces
2 slices bacon, chopped
1 small onion, minced
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar

Directions:

Cook green beans in 1-inch simmering water, covered, for 6 minutes. Drain and set aside. Return skillet to stove and set burner to medium high. Add bacon and brown. When fat begins to render, add chopped onions to the pan and cook until tender with the bacon. Add cooked green beans to the pan and turn to coat in bacon drippings and onions. When the beans are hot and bacon crisp at edges and onions translucent add vinegar to the pan and season with beans with sugar. Allow the vinegar to evaporate and the sugar to combine with pan drippings, 1 to 2 minutes, then serve.


Creamed Peas

Courtesy of Carolyn - posted on bakespace.com

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk*
about 2 cups fresh or frozen peas

DIRECTIONS:

Melt butter in saucepan. Add flour and salt, stir well until combined add milk and bring to a boil. Stir until slightly thickened. Stir in cooked peas. Serve over mashed potatoes if you wish.


*Michele's Note - If the roux becomes too thick when you add in the peas just add a little more milk and it will thicken up again.

Potatoes and String Beans - A simple side dish

Don't you just love those little bags of baby potatoes? I've been seeing them more often lately, baby reds, baby yukon golds and a couple of weeks ago I bought a bag of mixed baby potatoes. If you recall I roasted those in the oven and they were fantastic. This time I had a bag of baby yukon golds, I just love their creamy texture. This is a dish that I've had many different ways growning up and a few years ago I began making them with vinegar. Steve and I love it but not everyone loves that tanginess. Since we weren't the only ones eating this I decided to keep it simple.


Ingredients:

1 bag of baby yukon gold potatoes
Fresh string beans ( I don't weigh them so not sure how much)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley
kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper
extra virgin olive oil


Trim string beans and boil in salted water until tender but slightly crisp and in another pot boil potatoes whole in salted water until fork tender. Drain well and toss with garlic, parsley, oil, salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature, heck, I even like this cold.

Potatoes and String Beans - A simple side dish

Don't you just love those little bags of baby potatoes? I've been seeing them more often lately, baby reds, baby yukon golds and a couple of weeks ago I bought a bag of mixed baby potatoes. If you recall I roasted those in the oven and they were fantastic. This time I had a bag of baby yukon golds, I just love their creamy texture. This is a dish that I've had many different ways growning up and a few years ago I began making them with vinegar. Steve and I love it but not everyone loves that tanginess. Since we weren't the only ones eating this I decided to keep it simple.


Ingredients:

1 bag of baby yukon gold potatoes
Fresh string beans ( I don't weigh them so not sure how much)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley
kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper
extra virgin olive oil


Trim string beans and boil in salted water until tender but slightly crisp and in another pot boil potatoes whole in salted water until fork tender. Drain well and toss with garlic, parsley, oil, salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature, heck, I even like this cold.