Southern Green Beans and New Potatoes

By : DishinandDishes | 3 Comments | On : September 16, 2010 | Category : Side Dishes

My Aunt Jane left me a post on my Facebook wall the other day saying “I made your Southern potatoes and beans today…yummy!”

I confess, it’s been so long since I’ve made these, I had to stop and think about what she was talking about. I learned to make this shortly after I moved here from Michigan by my kids great grandma Mamoo, who knew how to cook all kinds of traditional Southern homemade goodness.

And it made me remember and crave them.

Slow cooked together in one giant pot, these are so easy and delicious, all you have to do is grill some meat to go with them and maybe toast up some crusty bread or rolls to serve on the side.

Start by tossing two hamhocks into a large pot.

What are hamhocks you say? Do you live above Tennessee on the map? I didn’t really know either until I moved down here to Oklahoma.

Hamhocks are the joint between the foot and the leg of a pig commonly referred to as the “knuckle”.

Grossed out?

Don’t be, for they make for super yummy broth in beans or soups. Just toss one in, slow cook the heck out of it and then remove it afterward. Your dish will be delicious. If you can’t find them, just use some chopped ham – maybe a cup full.

And the good news is, they’re super inexpensive. I would say “cheap” but Mr. Wonderful prefers me to use “inexpensive”.

Toss in an entire three pound bag of small red new potatoes and then pour in water just to cover them.

You can use larger ones, but I really like the small ones for this recipe.

Add in one tablespoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper.

Toss in 2 smashed garlic cloves and then put the lid on the pot and bring it to a simmer. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes.

While that’s simmering, prepare your fresh green beans.

There are of course, two ends of a green bean – the stem end and the tail end.

The tail ends are perfectly fine to leave on and eat but the stem ends aren’t. You’ll need to remove them. You can do so one of two ways. Line up several of them and just cut them off.

Or sit down at a table and just snap them off as close as you can to the end.

Now, it’s been 15 minutes, so let’s remove the lid and add in one whole pound of fresh green beans.

Also chop up one onion and add it in. Mix it all together, and put the lid back on.

Cook for another 15 minutes or until the green beans are nice and soft and have absorbed all the flavors of the hamhock broth. **Added note (after reading a comment) , I don’t like my green beans cooked to mushiness but if you like yours really soft, continue to cook until your desired likeness. Also, if you like them soft, then just add them right in with your potatoes at the beginning! I used to do that.