No. 2827

String Beans a la Pettit

Haricots Verts a la Pettit

Prepare and cook some string beans the same as with butter (No. 2829), but they should only be partly done; drain, wipe, and saute them in a sautoir with butter without allowing to attain color, then pour off the butter and substitute some good sweet cream; let simmer until this is almost reduced, seasoning with salt and nutmeg. Thicken when ready to serve with a thickening of egg-yolks, cream, and a small lump of fine fresh butter.

← No. 2826 String Beans a la Bourguignonne Beans, Peas & Lentils No. 2828 String Beans Smothered →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer assumes you already know No. 2829 and gives no quantities, so treat this as a method rather than a formula. For six people, figure 1 1/2 to 2 lb of slender green beans, about 1 cup of heavy cream, two egg yolks, and 3 to 4 tablespoons of butter in all.

The hinge: the liaison must not boilOnce the egg yolks beaten with cream go in, keep the pan below a simmer and stir constantly. At a boil the yolks scramble and the sauce breaks into grains and weeping liquid. Add the yolks off the heat, return the pan to low heat only long enough to thicken, and serve at once.
"Partly done" means blanched, not cookedBoil the beans in well-salted water for 3 to 4 minutes for thin haricots verts, 5 for standard green beans, so they are still firm at the center. They finish in the butter and cream, and a bean fully cooked at this stage collapses by the time the sauce is made.
SautoirA straight-sided shallow pan, wider than deep, essentially a modern sauté pan or a large skillet. Use one broad enough to hold the beans in a single layer or the cream will not reduce evenly.
"Without allowing to attain color"Keep the butter at medium heat, foaming but not browning. Browned butter and nutmeg-cream pull in opposite directions, and browned beans go leathery.
Sweet creamIn 1894 this meant fresh, unsoured cream, as distinct from cream that had turned or been soured. Use heavy or whipping cream; half-and-half and light cream have too little fat to reduce without curdling.
Almost reducedSimmer until the cream coats the beans and only a few spoonfuls of loose liquid remain in the pan. Over-reduce and the finishing yolks have nothing to bind; leave it too loose and the dish runs on the plate.
NutmegGrate it fresh and use a light hand, perhaps 1/8 teaspoon for this quantity. Pre-ground nutmeg is flat and the dish depends on that one aromatic note.
Wipe them dryThe instruction to drain and wipe is not fussiness. Water clinging to the beans spits in the butter and later thins the cream, so spread them on a towel while the pan heats.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer published The Epicurean in 1894 after some three decades as chef of Delmonico's in New York, and the book is essentially the restaurant's working repertoire set down in numbered categories, cross-references and all. That numbering is why this entry is only two sentences long: the labor of trimming and boiling lives at No. 2829, and each variation that follows changes only the finish. The finish here is a classic liaison of egg yolks, cream and cold butter, the same thickening French kitchens used for blanquettes and velvet-textured vegetable dishes. Names like "a la Pettit" attached to dishes in this period were commonly compliments to a patron, a colleague or a house specialty; Ranhofer supplies no explanation, and the person behind it is not documented in the book. What it does show is thin, young beans served barely cooked and sauced.