Green Beans

I pulled another group of previously made pork burgers out of the freezer. To this set, I added Wegmans BBQ seasoning. Do to torrential rain, we grilled them inside. I have decided that I like pork burgers better than beef burgers. Jim does not agree. We also had our home grown green beans again. This time I solved the toughness. I remembered a recipe that I got out of the Washington post when we lived on the farm. The author says he adapted this from an Italian cookbook by Anna del Conte. The recipe cooks for 3 hours. I really liked them, Jim thought they were too spicy and did not taste like green beans. You can’t please everybody.
2T bacon drippings
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into thin slices
1# green beans, trimmed and washed
14.5 oz. can dice tomatoes with juice
1 t freshly ground fennel
½ t salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 thick slices bacon, diced
In a heavy pot or Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid over medium heat, heat the bacon drippings or oil until warm. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the beans, tomatoes with juice, fennel, salt pepper, and bacon, bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce the heat to very low and simmer gently until tender, about 3 hours. Serve warm.
This would be a great dish to make in a Crockpot. I served a Viansa Syrah that came in the mail that morning as Jim was taking phone call after call instead of coming to dinner. It was too good for this dinner. He was mad and had a right to be.