Southern Green Beans with New Potatoes

Ingredients

• 2 lb fresh pole beans or half runners
• 1 lb small red new potatoes
• 6 oz slab bacon or salt pork, diced
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Before you cook

• Snap the stem ends off the beans and pull away the strings if the variety has them.
• Break the beans into 2-inch lengths and rinse them.
• Scrub the new potatoes and halve any larger than a golf ball.
• Dice the bacon into 1/2-inch cubes.

Steps

1. Cook the diced bacon in a large pot over medium heat for 8 minutes until browned and the fat has rendered.
2. Add the chopped onion and cook for 5 minutes until soft.
3. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
4. Pour in the chicken broth and bring it to a boil.
5. Add the snapped beans, salt, black pepper, and sugar.
6. Lower the heat, cover the pot, and simmer for 30 minutes.
7. Add the potatoes and push them down under the liquid.
8. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes more.
9. Pierce a potato with a knife to confirm it slides off easily.
10. Uncover and simmer 5 minutes to reduce the broth slightly.
11. Stir in the butter until it melts into the pot liquor.
12. Taste and adjust the salt, then serve the beans and potatoes with their broth.