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Recipe Detail Page
Frenched Green Beans and Snow Peas
Autumn 2012
Umami is a quality of flavour that’s difficult to translate from the Japanese. Maybe “deliciousness” is the closest English gets—that rich indescribable taste that some foods have. Many of those foods are Japanese because soy sauce, miso and konbu are considered umami archetypes. So is real chicken soup, anchovies and Parmesan. Adding a grilled portobello mushroom to dishes also raises the umami flavour bar, which is the method we have used here.
Serves 4
1 portobello mushroom cap, stalk removed
1 tsp (5 mL) olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 oz (125 g) green beans
4 oz (125 g) snow peas
2 tbsp (30 mL) butter
¼ cup (60 mL) thinly sliced red onion
2 tsp (10 mL) chopped fresh tarragon
1 Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C).
2 Place portobello mushroom cap, gill-side up, on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
3 Roast for 10 to 12 minutes or until tender and juicy. Cool and finely dice. Reserve.
4 French the green beans and snow peas using any of the methods in the TIP following this recipe.
5 Heat butter in skillet on medium-high heat and add red onion. Sauté for 1 minute until softened then add beans and peas. Sauté for another 1 to 2 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender.
6 Sprinkle reserved mushroom cap and tarragon over beans and peas, sauté for 1 minute longer to combine flavours. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serves 4
TIP When beans are a little fatter than you want, French cutting them makes a beautiful presentation and takes away any toughness. After you top and tail the beans you have three choices.
1 You can buy a tool called a “bean frencher” that strips the beans into 3 pieces lengthwise.
2 If you have good knife skills, you can cut the beans into thin strips.
3 If your knife skills are not too advanced, holding the knife at a 45-degree angle, cut the beans on the diagonal into 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces.
