No. 2829

String Beans with Butter

Haricots Verts au Beurre

If the beans be young and tender leave them whole; if large and yet tender, cut them in two or three lengthwise fillets; string and plunge the beans into boiling water in a copper pan; salt and cook them over a brisk fire without covering; keep them slightly hard; drain and throw in cold water, then spread them quickly on a cloth to wipe away all the moisture; put them at once into a vessel with fresh butter divided into small pieces, and stir them about with two forks without breaking, or else toss until the butter is dissolved; season and serve immediately.

← No. 2828 String Beans Smothered Beans, Peas & Lentils No. 2830 Sweet Potatoes, Boiled and with Lobster Cora →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer's method is the classic French treatment of green beans, and every step in it has a purpose. The hinge is drying the beans completely before they meet the butter.

The copper panUnlined copper was long believed to keep green vegetables bright, and it does, because trace copper stabilises the chlorophyll. It is not worth seeking out; a wide stainless or enamelled pan with plenty of hard-boiling salted water gives nearly the same colour, especially if you leave it uncovered as directed.
Why uncovered, over a brisk fireThe usual explanation is that a lid traps the volatile acids green vegetables release, and that those acids turn the beans olive-drab; how much this matters has been questioned, but short, hard, uncovered boiling is the traditional practice. Keep the water at a full rolling boil so the beans return to the boil within seconds of going in.
"Fillets" and "slightly hard"Cutting large beans into two or three lengthwise fillets is what a modern kitchen calls French-cut. "Slightly hard" means al dente: 3 to 5 minutes for slender young beans, up to 6 or 7 for thick ones. Bite one rather than trust a clock.
Salt the water generouslyThe recipe says only "salt." A common modern measure is about 1 tablespoon of kosher salt per 4 quarts.
The cold water and the clothThe plunge into cold water stops the cooking; the cloth is the step people skip. Any water clinging to the beans will keep the butter from coating them and leave a thin grey liquid in the serving dish. Roll them dry in a towel.
Finishing with butterMelt nothing in advance. Cold butter cut into pieces, tossed with warm beans off high heat, coats them as it softens; butter melted and browned first is more likely to separate. Warm the beans through gently as you toss, and serve at once.
Working aheadBlanched, shocked and dried beans hold a day in the refrigerator. Butter them only to order.
YieldNo quantity is given. Figure 1 1/2 lb of beans and 3 to 4 tablespoons of butter for six as a side dish.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of the kitchen he ran at Delmonico's in New York for more than thirty years, and this entry is a good example of why the book reads the way it does: it is a professional's shorthand, with no quantities and no timings, written for cooks who already knew the method and needed only the sequence. Haricots verts means simply green beans, though in French usage it came to signify the slender young pods picked before the seeds swell, distinct from the shelling varieties grown for their beans. The insistence on a copper pan and an uncovered brisk fire reflects a nineteenth-century French conviction that copper and rapid uncovered cooking preserve the green, though only the role of copper has since been borne out by food chemistry. That the recipe sits between "String Beans Smothered" and boiled sweet potatoes is a reminder that vegetables at Delmonico's were catalogued as thoroughly as sauces, each with its own numbered treatment.