Haricots Verts à la Maître d’ Hôtel – Buttered Green Beans with lemon juice and parsley
Recipe from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Serves 6-8
3 lbs. hot, blanched green beans
A wide, heavy bottomed, enameled sauce pan or skillet
Salt and Pepper
6-8 T softened butter cut into 4 pieces
2-3 tsp. lemon juice
3 T minced parsley
Snap the tip ends of the beans and remove the strings. Wash in very hot water immediately before cooking. Blanch in a large kettle of rapidly boiling, salted water (1 ½ tsp. per quart of water.) Boil them until almost tender and drain immediately. Turn them into the skillet or pan and heat them 2-3 minutes over medium hot heat to evaporate their moisture. Do not stir them, flip the pan. Toss briefly again with the salt, pepper and a piece of the butter. Add the rest of the butter, alternating with a few drops of lemon juice. Taste for seasoning. Turn into the vegetable dish, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.
* If you wish to blanche the beans ahead of time, run cold water over the beans for 3-4 minutes after draining.
