Carla Hall’s Cooked-to-Death-Delicious Green Beans with Potatoes

Heat the bacon fat in a 5-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and chile flakes and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are tender, about 3 minutes.

Add the stock, potatoes and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a steady simmer. Simmer until the potatoes are just tender enough to be pierced with a fork, but are still firm.

Add the green beans, cover, and simmer until very tender, about 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the potatoes and green beans to a serving dish. Bring the liquid to a boil and boil until reduced to 1 cup, about 6 minutes. Spoon over the vegetables and gently fold to mix. Serve hot.


*If you don’t have rendered bacon fat on hand, you can cook 4 strips to get the fat needed in this recipe. You can then crumble the cooked bacon on at the end too

**Here’s how Granny always peeled her spuds for this dish: she removed just one strip of peel the width of the peeler around the center of each potato. So, the rounds are naked in the middle, but have caps of peel on two ends.