Published November 1, 2008. From Cook's Illustrated.
We wanted a green bean recipe that gave us tender, lightly browned, fresh-tasting beans in just one pan. Reversing the conventional process of blanching and then sautéing, we sautéed the beans first, then added water to the pan and covered it, so the beans could cook in some steam. Once the beans were soft, we lifted the lid to vaporize whatever water remained in the pan and to promote additional browning. A little softened butter added to the pan at this stage gave our green bean recipe richness and promoted even more browning.
This recipe yields crisp-tender beans. If you prefer a slightly more tender texture (or you are using large, tough beans), increase the water by a tablespoon and increase the covered cooking time by 1 minute. To serve 6, increase all of the ingredients by half and increase the covered cooking time by 1 to 2 minutes. Do not attempt to cook more than 1 1/2 pounds of green beans with this method.
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