FREEZING GREEN BEANS RECIPES

Steps:

• Pour green beans into a colander to remove any liquid from jar or can.
• Rinse lightly with cool running water, let drain.
• Slice the pork side meat into ½ thick slices.
• Place pork in a sauce pot over medium heat.
• Cook meat until the fat sections appear translucent in color. Remove the meat if desired but leave the rendered fat in the pot to season the beans as they cook.
• Add 2 cups of warm water.
• Add the drained green beans. Add more water if needed to reach about 1 inch over top of beans.
• Add Sugar
• Add Black Pepper
• Add Salt
• Stir well and bring to a low boil. Cover pot, REDUCE heat to medium-low, simmer 30-45 minutes or until done.
• Taste a bean or two to see if they are cooked to your desired tenderness. Add more salt if needed, or more water if needed to finish cooking the beans to your taste preference.
• Remove from heat when done, cover until ready to serve.
• Serve warm and Enjoy.

Steps:

• Cut 1 green pepper into 1-inch squares. Smash and peel 4 of the garlic cloves. Put the green pepper and garlic into a large pot with the beans, ham hock, bay leaves and 1 tablespoon salt. Add 2 quarts water and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and simmer until the beans are tender, an hour or more.
• Meanwhile, make a sofrito. Cut the remaining ½ green pepper into ¼-inch dice. Peel and finely chop the remaining garlic. Heat the olive oil in a very large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until it starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the green pepper and onion and cook, stirring, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, jalapeño (leave out the seeds if you don’t want it too spicy), oregano, cumin, black pepper and 2 teaspoons salt and stir for another minute. Pour in the vinegar and scrape any browned bits from bottom of pan with a wooden spoon. This is your sofrito.
• When the beans are cooked, discard the bay leaf. Remove and set aside the ham hock and let it cool. Transfer 1 cup of beans to small bowl, mash them into a paste with the back of a fork and return to the pot. Add the sofrito, then the sugar. Pull the meat from the ham hock, leaving behind any white sinew or gristle. Chop the ham into ½-inch pieces and return it to the bean pot.
• Stir the beans well and bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes or so, skimming any foam from the top. Taste for salt and serve with white rice.