I have very fond memories of my maternal grandmother. She was a very loving woman who showed her love for her family and friends by cooking for them. And holidays were always spent at her house. She cooked turkey and dressing for Thanksgiving, roast beef for Christmas and ham for Easter. And with each of those meals she served green beans that were absolutely delicious. They were cooked Southern-style, which means they were slowly stewed with fatback.
My grandmother died 12 years ago, and I haven’t had Southern-style green beans since then. As much as I love Southern food, I figure it’s best to avoid it. So much of it is fried, and I sometimes feel like I can look at fried chicken and gain weight. What isn’t fried is cooked with fatback, and low-fat was all the rage for many years.
Today, however, we know that years of low-fat advice hasn’t worked, and was wrongheaded. In fact the Paleo diet encourages eating more fat. Fatback, which comes from the subcutaneous, thick fat deposits between the skin and muscles of a pig, is one of the highest food sources of vitamin D. And we all need more vitamin D. So with that in mind, I share my grandmother’s recipe for green beans.
Southern-style green beans
Total time
- 2 pounds of fresh, raw green beans, washed and snapped into 1-inch pieces
- 4½ cups of water
- 5 ounces of fatback, sliced
- black pepper, to taste
- sea salt, to taste
- Place green beans, water, fatback and pepper in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to a very low simmer. Cover and allow to simmer just barely for 1½ hours.
- Taste and adjust seasonings. Add sea salt to taste if needed and serve.
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