Here we are again! Another One Enchanted Kitchen blog post with the incredibly talented, award-winning author Katherine Reay. Have you read any of her books? I was a fan from the moment I read her debut, Dear Mr. Knightly.
Katherine’s sophomore novel, Lizzy & Jane had so much for lovers of the culinary arts and her latest, A Portrait of Emily Price, which includes a chef, too.
And can I just say, you’re going to LOVE this recipe. Easy and oh-so-good. And don’t forget to enter the giveaway below! Katherine’s latest book is included, along with books by the rest of this week’s guest authors, a $25 Williams-Sonoma gift card and Ghirardelli Holiday Sea Salt chocolates!
Extra Fine French Beans from Toulouse
…from Katherine Reay
I don’t remember the first time we made this recipe… Looking at the book, I think we bought it while living in Ireland because that is, of course, where one buys a book on French cooking. Regardless of when this recipe came into our lives – it will never leave. It is a family favorite and is now so popular it’s a standard for both Christmas and Easter dinner. It’s also become a “friend favorite” and is actually when friends come to our house for dinner. One group of kids calls it “Mr. Mason’s Beans.”
Whatever you choose to call it, be sure to make it. It might sound intimidating, but it’s not and it’s so worth the few minutes. Creamy. Tangy. Infinitely yummy and a worthy of special occasions.
Ingredients
9 oz small think French beans topped and tailed
½ stick of butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
1 tbsp plain flour
¾ cup chicken broth
1 egg yolk
1 tsp white wine vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Bring a pan of lightly salted water to boil and blanch the beans for a bout 1-2 minutes. Drain thoroughly. Heat the butter in a large frying pan and sauté the beans over medium3 heat with the shallot, garlic and parsley. Cook gently without browning for 5 minutes, then sir in the flour and cook for a further 2 minutes. Pour in the broth and simmer gently for 5-10 min. The beans should retain some firmness. Season with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk and the vinegar. Take the beans off the heat and stir a tablespoon of the hot bean cooking liquid into the egg and vinegar mixture then pour that mixture onto the beans and shirt to make a thickened sauce. Serve immediately and ENJOY!
Giveaway Details
One lucky winner is going to receive some suh-sweet prizes including a $25 gift card to Williams-Sonoma, Ghirardelli Holiday Sea Salt Chocolates, One Enchanted Eve (e-novella) by Melissa Tagg, A Royal Christmas Wedding by Rachel Hauck, A Portrait of Emily Price by Katherine Reay, Together at the Table by Hillary Manton Lodge, Mist at Midnight and Home & Garden Devotions by Sandra Byrd.
You can enter daily using the form below! Bonus entry options available.
Comments 54
Thank you
You are welcome. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Love this post and all the good food stuff!
Food posts are awesome. 🙂 Makes me want to cook and eat!
Love love love!!!
It’s so tasty!
Yum!!! My husband LOVES green beans so this recipe is no doubt going onto the “to be made” list. Thank you for this! And a big shout out thanks to Melissa for having Katherine Reay on here. Love her works!
Give it a try. It really is delicious. And thanks for stopping by. It’s such a treat to be here with Melissa.
If it is a recipe young and old both like, then you definitely have a winner!
I know, right? Very few things I make are this big a hit. You should see the page in the cookbook — an absolute mess. 🙂
These green beans sound absolutely delicious!!
They really are! If you ever try them, let me know what you think.
Will do!
These beans look so good. I think I will make them for Christmas. Thanks!
I hope you do. Let me know. I’d love to know if your family enjoyed them. Merry Christmas!
What a lovely healthy dish! I’m more of a cookie baker/eater myself 😉
Hehehehe… My Kryptonite. 🙂
Have Emily Price book checked out from the library Have read others too
Wonderful! Thank you. I hope you enjoy Emily!
Thank you for this yummy recipe!
You are welcome. Let me know if you ever try it. 🙂
Thank you for this recipe! I’m always trying to find a magic recipe that will get my husband to eat cooked vegetables 😉 I’ll definitely be trying this one!
I hear ‘ya. 🙂 Enjoy this one. Merry Christmas!
Yummy, my favorite to go recipe for church potluck
Wonderful. We have a church potluck tomorrow and I’m in charge of cookies. 🙂
Sounds yummy! Thanks for the recipe!
It really is. I hope you try it some day. 🙂
Would love to read this!
Thank you. Melissa really has put together an amazing giveaway here… Such fun to be a part of this.
My favorite baking memory is with my grandma. Every Christmas she would invite me to spend the night and bake cookies. It was our special time. I miss her and every year when I bake Christmas cookies I remember those special times.
I have memories like that. My grandmother died a couple years ago and I miss her too — cake decorating, cookie baking. We did those things together. Such beautiful memories.
I love new recipes for vegetables, since my husband has a huge garden.;) I just made Tugboat turnips, which were really good.
Oh… I love a garden. We expanded our tomato plants this year and planted five plants and didn’t get a single tomato. Our fence wasn’t high enough and our yellow lab ate every single one. He’s fat now. 🙂
Thanks for such a fun blog and giveaway!
Doesn’t she have the best? Thanks for stopping by!
One of my favorite recipes is for “old fashioned sugar cookies”. My mom used to make them and now I make them, not only for Christmas but several times a year. I’m not sure where she got the recipe from but it is a keeper! The original recipe says to flatten each cookie ball with the bottom of a glass and sprinkle with decorations. I usually use my cookie press and make different designs of cookies instead of pressing them out with a glass. They just melt in your mouth. Thanks for this great giveaway!
Oh… I adore sugar cookies. Thanks for sharing — if you ever want to share the recipe, I’m all ears. 🙂
Can’t beat a sweet potato casserole. Thank you for a great giveaway.
So true. We had one this Thanksgiving with sweet potatoes and carrots. It was delicious!
I love to bake. One of my favorite recipes is for a butter cookie flavored with cloves. Always a winner at our house!
What a fantastic combination!
a favorite baking memory is making sugar cookies for family members to decorate each holiday. Fifteen years later, we still cherish the memories and enjoy being creative.
My husband’s whole family had a huge cookie “contest” at our reunion last year. It was such amazing fun! And the creativity… Extraordinary. Thanks for sharing.
No time for green beans….it’s fruitcake making time!
Hehehehe… So very true. 🙂
I will have to try this recipe soon.
I hope you do. Let me know if it’s a hit!
Cholate pie.
Yum!!!
Another one of my favorite holiday recipes is Lebanese Baklava. I don’t make it as sweet as most Baklava. I printed off Katherine’s green beans recipe and will definitely try it. Thank you!
Okay… So we just made Baklava for the first time. I need to look up Lebanese and see if it might be different from our recipe as I agree with you about the sweetness. I thought ours was too sweet — delicious but sweet.
Let me know if you try the beans. I’d love to hear if you like them. Thanks!
Your recipe looks wonderful! I love sugar cookies. So many good memories of frosting them growing up.
Becky
My favorite Christmas recipe is my homemade Spritiz Sugar Cookies, they are a family recipe and melt in your mouth! The kids and I make green trees and white snowflakes with a press. It’s definitely a family favorite!! Thanks for the amazing giveaway!
My favorite memory is baking Christmas cookies with my grandma