My son recently asked for my recipe for cajun green beans. He and his girlfriend Laura are spending Thanksgiving at Laura’s parent’s home. Ratboy is a pretty good cook. He understands that he has to bring something really good, and this is it.

This isn’t a completely original recipe. I got the bones of it from an old Emeril Lagasse cookbook I’ve had for years. I’ve monkeyed with it a good bit through the years.

You’ll be able to spot most of my modifications. I think they help the finished product.

Here’s my email to my son.

Ok, so here’s what you need to make Cajun Green Bean.

• 1/2 lb of bacon, chopped up
• Internet connection with blue tooth speakers
• 1 bottle of good bourbon….not that crap from Tennessee
• 1/4 Cup of flour…real flour not that self rising crap. It doesn’t have to be fancy foo foo flour. Just basic flour.
• 2 cups of chopped onions…I usually just do two onions…sweet onions, not those yellow bastards
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon of salt  NOTICE it’s a TEASPOON…not a Tablespoon. If you screw up and use a tablespoon, you are never getting invited back.
• 1/4 Teaspoon of cayenne ..again NOT A TABLESPOON.  If you use a tablespoon, no one can eat it except your mother.
• 1/4 Teaspoon of black pepper….A fine ground black pepper, not butcher grind.
• 2 Cups of chicken broth you made your self…I usually need more…I have at least a quart of store bought broth on hand as backup.
• 1 1/2 lbs of trimmed green beans
• A can of new potatoes….whole, not sliced….a big can if you really like potatoes

So, here’s how this goes to make the gravy.

1. Fix a cocktail, and put some music on.  Probably should be Harry Connic Jr. Fix Laura a drink, too.  Don’t talk too much.  Focus on what you are doing.
2. Fry your bacon.  When I say fry it, what I really mean is cut it into small pieces, about an inch in length, then fry it until it’s nice and brown. NOT BURNT.  Just brown.  Use low heat, and move it around.  Remove the cooked bacon with a spoon.
3. Check on Laura’s drink.  Refresh if necessary.
4. As you stir the bacon drippings around, sprinkle in the flour.  This is your roux.  Keep it moving.  Again, use low heat.  You want a peanut butter color roux. Pay attention. If you burn the roux, not only will you not get invited back to Laura’s family’s holiday celebrations, but you’ll be banned from home. You’ll be a man without a country.
5. Refresh your drink.  Switch the music to Bonnie Raitt. Do not sing along.
6. Add your onions and stir.  They will cause the roux to glump up some.  Don’t worry about it.  Keep it moving.  You want the onions wilted. 
7. Refresh all drinks.
8. Add the salt, cayenne and black pepper.  Stir it some more to mix it in real well.
9. Pour in your chicken broth and stir. Raise your heat just a bit and keep stirring. The gravy will thicken once it comes to a boil. It will not thicken until it comes to a boil.  Sing some.
10. Once it gets to the thickness you want, remove it from the heat.

Do the green beans like this.

1. Freshen your drinks.  Switch music again.  Go with Guy Clark this time. You can sing to this one.
2. Trim the stems off those little bastard.
3. Put them in a steamer.
4. Steam them to the point of doneness you like.

Here’s how to do the potatoes.

1. Open the can.
2. Pour the water out.

Assemble the dish.

1. Freshen your drink while singing.
2. Put the greenbeans and the potatoes in the chaffer
3. Pour the gravy over the greenbeans and potatoes. Mix it in pretty well.
4. Sprinkle the crumbled bacon on top.
5. Cover with foil.

On Thanksgiving Day.

1. Fix everyone drinks.
2. Ask if there is anything you can do to help
3. Put chaffer in oven at 350.
4. Relax, Have drinks and chat while you wash what ever dishes are in the sink.  
5. Do not sing.
6. It will be ready when it’s warm.
   

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That’s pretty much how I do it.

Good luck, enjoy and may the force be with you.

later,

Dad