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String Beans

String beans cooked with butter, onion, salt, and pepper, sometimes with bacon.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Warren, Pa. Presbyterian church. Second auxiliary missionary society. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 68,474 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

String Beans

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beans

  1. Remove the strings from the beans and cut them into 1‑inch pieces.

  2. Wash the beans.

Cook the beans

  1. Cook the beans in boiling water until tender.

  2. Drain the beans and pour them over cream or a cream sauce.

  3. Season the beans with butter, pepper, and salt.

Make the onion and butter base

  1. Put 3 tablespoons of butter in the bottom of a kettle.

  2. Cut 1 small onion into the butter.

  3. Let the onion cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly.

  4. Add the beans and pour over boiling water.

  5. Cook slowly until nearly dry.

  6. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Note

  1. Optionally, use diced bacon in place of butter.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

152Calories
2 gProtein
12 gFat
12 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Warren, Pa. Presbyterian church. Second auxiliary missionary society. [from old catalog]. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beans (in the method)
Form the main body of the dish, becoming tender when simmered in water.
Butter
Adds richness and carries flavor as the onion cooks and the beans are seasoned.
Onion
Softens in the butter to add sweetness and aromatic depth.

The step that matters

Cook slowly until nearly dry. Cooking gently lets the beans finish tender and concentrates their flavor in the butter and onion, while avoiding scorching the fat and sugars that would make the dish bitter or burnt.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Carrotfits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

More string beans recipes

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