Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Crispy Green Bean Fries with Wasabi Cucumber Ranch Dip

Part of Eric’s new(ish) job is exhibiting at trade shows around the country, something he’s never had to do before so it’s been a new experience for both of us. He actually spent last week in Las Vegas “working” while Charisse stayed home and went to work, something that was not well received at the Petruno household. Eric was annoyed because he was in Vegas, working 10 hour days and not having much in the way of fun. Charisse was annoyed because Eric was in Vegas without her.  When he got back, we stopped at the In-N-Out right next to the airport and Charisse got a great laugh out of watching him fall asleep midway through his burger. The next day (we slept through the morning) we talked about the blog and some of the things we’re going to change about it. After some deliberation we feel like the look doesn’t exactly match the feel and our photography has hit a virtual wall. We started this last year and we were really interested in pushing the fancy envelope. We saw ourselves as edgy ex-city people who needed a slick and polished blog. We found that we keep going back to homey feel good food with just a hint of the city. We also decided that we should have a picture of us in here somewhere, since it is a blog about us. As you can imagine it was quite the day (Eric got to order more photography stuff from Ebay and gets to take over the dining room table) and as we wrapped up we decided that we needed to fry something, a trait we’ve picked up from our friend Jen’s southern roots. Since Eric just finished a week eating crappy junk food the usual friable suspects were out of the question, so we decided to dig through the fridge and fry whatever came out, which happened to be green beans! Charisse dug out a recipe for a great dipping sauce and fired up the oil. The taste came out a lot like fried zucchini, but with green beans. The real highlight was the dipping sauce, a modified ranch dressing with just enough zing to make it exciting. 





Wasabi Cucumber Ranch Dip
What you will need

½ cup bottled ranch dressing (I used Hidden Valley)
¼ cup cucumbers, peeled, seeded, minced
1 tablespoon milk
1 ½ teaspoons prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon wasabi powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
Pinch cayenne pepper

Easiest dip ever. Put ingredients into a blender. Blend until smooth. Put into a serving bowl and chill until served.
Crispy Green Bean Fries
What you will need

1 egg beaten
1 cup of milk
4 cups of vegetable broth or chicken broth
6 to 8 ounces of fresh green beans
1 cup of flour
1 cup plain breadcrumbs or seasoned dry bread crumbs
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Oil for frying

Bring broth to a boil add beans and cook for 15 minutes. Transfer beans to an ice bath to stop the cooking process. 

Set out three shallow bowls. In the first mix your beaten egg and milk. Add 1 cup of flour to the second. Add breadcrumbs and remaining ingredients (except oil) to the third. A few at a time, take the beans from the water and put them through the breading process flour first, then egg then breadcrumbs. Take care not to have any excess flour on the beans or the egg might not stick. 

Heat the oil until it reaches 350*F using a fry oil thermometer. Fry beans until golden brown, around a minute to a minute and a half.

recipe found on epicurious

32 comments:

  1. I love fried green beans, this is delicious and crispy. And the dip sounds right combo.

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  2. Are these just not the best things ever! Love, love fried green beans and the dipping sauce sounds perfect. Happy New Year!!

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  3. Sounds fantastic. The pictures are so well done(I love that table cloth color! I can imagine how horrible it must feel being in Vegas and not getting to actually feeling like your in Vegas!

    I enjoy your blog very much. Cheers

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  4. Are you readining my mind? I have been dying to make some fried green beans! I must, must try this!

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  5. wow, the green bean fries absolutely rock with wasabi dip! Bookmarked this recipe, will give it a try- thanks for sharing!

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  6. this is a lovely recipe ; have never made bean fries this way ! gotta try this out !

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  7. Absolutely killer recipe...I LOVE fried green beans, and that wasabi dip is brilliant. Great job!

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  8. A local tavern we frequent (!) offers these gems . . . but yours look healthy! I'll have to tell Jo about the wasabi dip. Great idea. (And the photos are gorgeous BTW.)

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  9. I love fried green beans! The dip sounds like an excellent compliment to such a yummy side!!

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  10. I love fried green beans and the wasabi cucumber ranch dip sounds really awesome!

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  11. fried green beans, a perfect super bowl snack !!love the dip, goregous shots!

    sweetlife

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  12. My boys would inhale these fried green beans. I will definitely be making them in the near future.

    Your food photographer is amazing! Everything looks so beautiful, and perfectly delicious.

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  13. Those green beans look so very very good!!! The sauce sounds delicious, and your presentation is perfect, the way you wrapped the bean in that packet is such a nice touch!
    Cheers
    Dennis

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  14. Admittedly I'm not a fan of wasabi but the green beans sound delicious! I could eat those any which way.

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  15. Loving this! What a great idea, I have never had green beans this way but I have always wanted to try. I am a fan of wasabi too, I grew to fall in love with it when I started to eat sushi!

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  16. looks delicious - this recipe is a keeper!

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  17. Great pictures. If you really did hit the wall, you've certainly climbed over it.

    I feel bad for Eric. It's a lot to ask a guy to put in 10 hours at the booth before 10 hours at the black jack table. I would've been toast too.

    Just found you today. You guys have created a splendid blog.

    Signing up for more.

    Cheers! Scott

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  18. Yummy bites! This would be the smartest way to introduce your kids to green beans: If you'll fry them they'll eat them! Love the dip! Thank you for sharing with us^_^

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  19. I never had green bean fries and I must give them a try. Love the presentation; and the wasabi dip sounds wonderful.

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  20. Great pictures. The fried green beans look so good, and I like the combination of flavors in the dipping sauce, cool cucumber and spicy wasabi!

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  21. Oh Hello!!!! Those beans look SO delicious- and that dipping sauce- Wowza! What a fresh combination of flavors- I could see that being great with so many things! I will definitely have to give both recipes a try in the near future! I'm looking forward to reading more "homey meets city" posts.

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  22. I have had fried green beans before, but I must say that this wasabi dip puts these over the top...in a really good way.

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  23. These sound awesome!! I haven't had green bean fries or dip like that, but know I'd love both. Your photos are so stunning!

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  24. Delicious! I love the sauce with a kick. I'm definitely saving this recipe in my file to make asap.

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  25. I want a job that includes working trips to Vegas :) And these fries! Yum!

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  26. Lucky green beans to get such 5 star treatment. Love the wasabi dip.

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  27. Mmm that dip sounds quite tasty! I'll have to give that one a try!

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  28. Ive always wanted to try making these at home. They look awesome. Are they something I could make ahead for company and keep warm or would they become soggy quickly?

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  29. I've never made these before but can't wait to try. They look delicious.

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