Saveur: Stewed Green Beans

You know those huge smoked turkey legs they have at the fair?  The ones that looks like they came from Godzilla turkey?  Well, everyone I know seems to love those things.  I'm not sure I can get into it, though.  I feel like a cave woman gnawing on a mammoth bone. Luckily there is something else to do with those giant legs.  Something delicious.

Every time you go to a restaurant in the South, you'll see green beans on the menu.  But not just any green beans.  These are slow cooked with meat until they're tender and succulent.  And if you're lucky, the cook will take the time to pull the meat from the bone and throw that in, too.  But since some of us have large student loan payments and can't eat out all the time, we have to try and recreate the magic at home.

Stewed Green Beans
From Martha Lou's Kitchen Restaurant, as seen in Saveur magazine, May 2011

4 tablespoons unsalted butter or bacon fat
1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 pound green beans, strings removed
1 small smoked turkey leg
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the butter or bacon fat in a 6-quart saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring, until soft, about 4 minutes.  Add the green beans, turkey leg, and 4 cups of water.  Season with salt and pepper, and bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring, until the green beans are very tender, about 1 hour.

Makes 4 servings