Haricots Verts aux Échalotes
Haricots Verts aux Échalotes·(ah-ree-koh vehr oh-zay-shah-loht)
Chapter 3 — The Sides
If you have ever sat at the pewter bar at Balthazar and ordered a steak frites, you know these beans. They are vibrant, structurally perfect, and coated in a sweet, buttery shallot emulsion that makes you question why your own green beans at home taste so uninspired. The secret to this Spring Street magic is not a mystical ingredient, but the rigid application of French culinary discipline. It requires a rapid, heavily salted boil followed by a violent ice bath, and shallots patiently cooked down in high-fat cultured butter. Do not rush the shallots, and spring for the good butter. Yes, this is exactly what Spring Street tastes like.
Ingredients
- haricots verts1 lb
- kosher salt2 tbsp
- shallots3 large
- cultured French butter3 tbsp
- neutral oil1 tbsp
- Champagne vinegar1 tbsp
- fleur de sel1/2 tsp
- black pepper1/4 tsp
Method
- 01
Bring four quarts of water to a rolling, violent boil in a heavy Dutch oven.
Add the kosher salt so the water tastes aggressively salty, like the sea, and prepare a large bowl of equal parts ice and cold water nearby.
- 02
Drop the trimmed beans into the rapidly boiling water and cook uncovered for exactly five to seven minutes.
You are looking for a texture the French call croquante, meaning tender and free of raw starch, but still retaining a definitive snap.
- 03
Using a spider skimmer, immediately transfer the beans from the boiling water directly into the ice bath.
Submerge them completely for three to four minutes until they are entirely cold to the core, then drain and spread them out on a clean kitchen towel to dry completely.
- 04
Melt the cultured butter with the neutral oil in a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium-low heat.
Once the butter foams, add the sliced shallots and practice patience, allowing them to sweat and collapse for fifteen to twenty minutes until translucent, jammy, and pale golden brown.
- 05
Increase the heat to medium-high and add the dry, blanched haricots verts to the skillet.
Aggressively toss the beans with the shallots and butter for two to three minutes, merely reheating them and coating them in the fat rather than cooking them further.
- 06
Remove the skillet from the heat and drizzle the Champagne vinegar over the beans.
The acid will deglaze any caramelized sugars in the pan and emulsify with the butter to create a glossy sauce. Toss one final time, transfer to a warm platter, and finish with fleur de sel and black pepper.
Notes
Blanch and shock the beans up to twenty-four hours in advance.
Wrap the thoroughly dried, blanched beans in paper towels and store them in a zip-top bag in the refrigerator overnight. This bone-dry overnight rest actually improves the final dish, as the beans will accept the butter emulsion much better than if they were freshly cooked and slightly wet.
Cultured butter is non-negotiable.
Standard American sweet cream butter has too much water and will steam the beans. European-style cultured butter, clocking in at 83 percent butterfat, creates the rich, clinging emulsion required to coat the haricots verts properly.