Hungarian Green Beans Recipe
3.8 stars -
based on 3 votes
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Ingredients: |
Ingredients: 1½-2 lbs. whole green beans, not 'French cut' (4-6 cups), fresh, frozen, or canned
3-5 strips of bacon, diced (or 3-5 tablespoons Hormel Real Crumbled Bacon)
½ of a medium yellow onion, diced or thinly sliced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (regular or gluten-free)
1-2 tablespoons bacon grease (or butter or olive oil)
1 tablespoon or more sweet Hungarian paprika
¼-½ teaspoon or more hot Hungarian paprika (optional)
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
salt to taste (may not need much due to salt in the bacon)
(1 cup sour cream, room temperature - optional)
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Directions: |
Directions:For fresh or frozen whole green beans:
Cook the green beans by either steaming them until they are cooked but still slightly crisp or by adding them to boiling salted water and cooking them until just tender, about 3-5 minutes once they return to a boil. Drain immediately, reserving about 2 cups of the cooking water for use later in the recipe. Set aside.
Meanwhile, in a skillet or saucepan large enough to later hold all of the beans, cook the diced bacon over medium high heat until desired crispness. Remove the bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Drain from the pan all but about 1 or 2 tablespoons of the rendered bacon fat.
Add the diced onion to the bacon fat in the pan (or to butter or olive oil if using Hormel Real Crumbled Bacon). Cook the onions over medium heat until translucent. Do not let the onions brown.
Remove pan from heat, add paprika and stir until onions are well coated.
METHOD if not using sour cream (and Dad never did to my recollection) --
Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of flour and the black pepper into the onion/paprika mixture and blend well with a wire whisk. If you are using Hormel Real Crumbled Bacon, you can add it now. Return the pan to the stove and cook for a minute or two over low heat, whisking constantly and taking care not to burn the mixture, then gradually blend in about a cup of the cooking water from the beans. Increase the heat and continue to stir until the sauce thickens. The color of the sauce should be a fairly dark red. If it looks pale, add more paprika! The sauce may seem too thick, but wait until you have added the beans before adding any more liquid. The cooked beans themselves will provide more liquid. Stir the cooked diced bacon into the sauce, then gently stir in the green beans and simmer until heated through, about 5 more minutes. Taste and add salt if needed and more paprika or black pepper if desired.
METHOD if using sour cream --
In a small bowl, whisk the flour into the sour cream. Add the black pepper and mix well. Gradually stir the sour cream into the onions/paprika in the pan, blending well. Return the pan to the stove and simmer on low heat for 4-5 minutes or until the sauce is smooth and creamy. The sauce may seem too thick, but wait until you have added the beans before adding any liquid. The cooked beans themselves will provide more liquid. Stir the cooked diced bacon or Hormel Real Crumbled Bacon into the sauce, then gently stir in the green beans and simmer until heated through, about 5 more minutes. If you think you need more sauce at this point, or if the sauce seems too thick, thin it by gradually adding some of the reserved cooking water from the beans until the desired amount and consistency is achieved. Taste and add salt if needed and more paprika or black pepper if desired. |
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Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: When I asked Dad how to make his Hungarian green beans, he gave me a list of ingredients, some with measurements, but most without. My note reads "3-5 strips bacon" and "cook ½ yellow onion in grease". "1 TBSP flour" is mentioned along with "1 to 1 ratio", which I believe refers to the ratio of flour to bacon grease. Spice amounts are described as "lots of paprika" and "a little salt and pepper". The amount of green beans is left to the cook's discretion. The one direction he gave me was to "add beans at the end".
Would a scribbled note to myself and memories of watching Dad (and sometimes Mom) make these green beans for Thanksgiving dinner be enough to enable me to write up a recipe that could pass with my siblings? I went to Google. Several recipes included onion, paprika and sour cream, but no bacon. They sounded really good, and they helped me figure out some measurements that are likely to work. The closest recipe to Dad's was actually called Hungarian Green Bean Soup. Maybe that's why his sauce was always so thin!
Finally, I believe Dad always used canned whole green beans, including some if not all of the water from each can. Understandable choice if faced with preparing a meal for 11 every day of the week, but especially when there are many more at the table on holidays! I think he will forgive us if we opt for fresh or frozen green beans over canned, and I am confident that he would be proud of any attempts we make to replicate this beloved dish.
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