French string beans with browned butter, herb oil, bread croutons and grated Appenzeller
6 servings
Ingredients
600 g French string beans
4 tablespoons rapeseed oil
300 g bread
120 g salted butter
300 g Appenzeller
sea salt flakes and black pepper
Herb oil
10 g fresh mixed chopped herbs, e.g. oregano, thyme and ramsons wild garlic
2 garlic cloves
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt flakes and black pepper
Do this
Start with the herb oil. Mix the herbs, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil using a hand-held blender or food processor. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Cut the crusts off the bread and break it into irregular sized pieces. Heat rapeseed oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the bread pieces and spread them out in a single layer in the skillet, turning to coat the bread in the oil for about 10 minutes. Adjust the heat if they are browning too fast. Remove the bread croutons and lay them in a paper towel-lined bowl so the excess fat is absorbed. Sprinkle with sea salt and turn them so that the salt is evenly distributed.
Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to the boil. Trim and wash the beans. Add them to the pan and boil until tender-crisp, but still bright green, about 3 to 4 minutes. Dry them and place in a bowl with the rapeseed oil. Mix well so that everything is covered in the oil. Heat some oil in a frying pan until it starts to smoke. Toss in the beans and flash-fry them for a minute or so. Reduce the heat and fry until the beans develop a nice color, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Place butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir the butter the entire time to keep it moving. Once melted, the butter will begin to foam and sizzle around the edges. Keep stirring for about 5-8 minutes, the butter will turn golden brown and it will smell intensely buttery and nutty. Remove the skillet from the heat and pour the butter into a heatproof bowl to stop the cooking process.
Place the beans on a plate. Drizzle the browned butter and the herb oil over and top with the bread croutons. Last but not least, grate a silly amount of appenzeller over the whole plate of beans, just before serving.
