Thanks to friend, Micki Welsh, for sharing this recipe with me last week. You tell me: what’s NOT to like about combining bacon and fresh green beans baked with a mixture of brown sugar and butter? Reading this recipe you know already exactly how this will taste. Admit it, you DO! And, it sounds wonderful, no?
Once I had the beans, I was SO excited about making this that I sashayed straight into the kitchen and fell to putting the dish together. Beans trimmed, bacon cut, bundles rolled and secured with a toothpick, and then OH, NO! I belatedly realized the recipe instructed blanching the beans before rolling them up in the bacon!
Yep, you got it: I had to unroll, blanch, and re-roll. Time wasted and a slippery mess! Take away Lesson #1: DO read a recipe thoroughly before beginning. In the end, however, these baked up perfectly and they are definitely a new “go-to” recipe for fresh green beans. The bacon crisps and the brown sugar-butter mixture caramelizes as the bundles broil the last five minutes of cooking time resulting in tender veggies AND tangy flavor that will leave you reaching for more.
This recipe is excellent for enticing the kiddos into eating their veggies and the prep time is minimal (IF you read the directions carefully!). The presentation is more appetizing and tidier than a simple bowl of green beans and all you need do is just sit back and accept the compliments.
Concerned that the beans might become overdone, I adjusted my oven to 325 and baked them for 37 minutes on my timer, broiling them the last five minutes. The beans were tender and the bacon crisp and I will be honest and admit that my supper turned into a little chowder and a whole lot of beans. I halved the recipe today and it yielded 9 bundles. I ate half of the halved recipe; they are THAT good!
Bacon Bundled Green Beans
Ingredients
2# fresh French green beans, ends trimmed
8-10 bacon strips, cut in half
1 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. garlic powder, optional
Directions Blanch the beans for five minutes in a large sauce pot in boiling water to cover (or microwave them). Drain and cool. Bundle 10-12 beans and wrap each bundle with a strip of bacon, securing each bundle with a toothpick. Prepare the sauce by melting the butter in a small sauce pot on the stove, add the sugar and the garlic powder if using. Cook over medium heat until bubbly, whisking continually, then remove from heat and pour the mixture evenly over the bean bundles. Bake 350 for 35-40 minutes. Before removing from oven, place the baking dish under your oven’s broiler element and broil five minutes. Remove from oven and serve in a flat dish with shallow sides, providing tongs for picking up each bundle.
The bundles can be refrigerated, covered, overnight, once you have them wrapped and secured with the toothpicks. Remove from fridge the next day and allow them to warm slightly before baking. The bacon and sugar can produce a bit of a mess so I took Micki’s advice and prepared this using a throw-away aluminum pan for easy clean up.