Friday, September 14, 2007

TGIF Green Bean Fries + Green Bean Stir-Fry

Met up with some friends recently, and we had a fun-filled, pleasant and chatty meal at TGI Fridays. Unlike my previous experience, the food arrived hot, the service was fast, and we had a nice wait person. And there was one particular appetizer that stole the limelight, and had us talking about it days later. It's their green beans fries!

The green bean fries came out in TGI Fridays signature red basket on their red-and-white striped paper and came with a mouth-awakening ranch dip that was spiked with wasabi according to our eager waiter. Since a couple of us ordered this item, we had enough to share around the table. Those crunchy battered green beans were hot and the spiked dip sealed the tasty green bean fries with a beautiful horseradish taste! My not-so-keen-for-green-beans partner thoroughly enjoyed them too, and it was fun to watch that arm to mouth movement working like a fully wind-up toy. Even the kids got into the action although they smartly skipped the dip-with-a-kick!

Yesterday, my girlfriend gave me a copy of this copy-cat recipe she had found, and of course I had to make this as part of dinner. I used french beans, and changed the breading from regular bread crumbs to panko (tempura breading) and it came out less greasy and more crunchy than the original1/2 cup ranch dressing (I used Hidden Valley Peppercorn Ranch)
1 tbs milk
1/3 cup diced up, peeled, mini cucumber
1 tsp wasabi powder
1 1/2 tsp prepared horseradish
Pinch of Cayenne pepper
Pinch salt
freshly ground pepper

Make the dip by putting everything in a food processor. Mix well and chill til ready to serve.

Green Bean Fries
8 oz tender green beans, rinsed and cut in half
4 cups vegetable broth
cold water ice bath
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
pinch of salt
panko bread crumbs
vegetable oil for deep frying

Add beans to broth and bring to a boil. Cook for 15 mins, then place in cold water ice bath to stop the cooking process. Mix beaten egg with milk, garlic powder and onion powder. Shake the beans of excess water, and coat the beans with egg mixture. Then dip beans one at a time into panko and place on a plate. Do this til all the beans are coated.

Heat enough oil to cover beans and bring oil to 350F in a heavy skillet. Fry beans til golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve with dip.

NOTE: This is addictive! But green bean fries are healthier than potatoe french fries, no?

And since french beans are an excellent source of vitamin A, C, and folate, and because I bought a 2 lb. bag, the rest of the green beans were stir-fried and served over noodles.1 lb ground turkey
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 tbs Chinese rice wine
1 tbs dark soy sauce
1/2 tbs Chinese hot bean paste
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tsp Chile powder
1/3 cup chicken broth
1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbs cold water.

In a hot non-stick wok, add oil, swirling to coat. Add turkey and stir-fry, breaking up lumps, til there's no pink, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in wine and 1/2 tbs soy sauce and stir-fry another min.

Add hot bean paste and stir-fry until fragrant, about 1 min. Add ginger, garlic, Chile powder, and stir-fry until fragrant. Add broth, remaining 1/2 tbs soy sauce, and green beans, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring gently, about 3-5 minutes. Stir cornstarch mixture and add to wok. Cook til sauce is thickened, about 3 min.

Serve immediately over hot noodles.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Green beans fries are healthier than french fries.
haha! Once again, I can't see your noodles!

daphne said...

erm.. i don't think i can eat that with noodles..probably just munch them off!!

Little Corner of Mine said...

Oh I love green bean fries, does sound healthier than french fries hor. Now I will have to order this at TGI Friday, I always received 20% off coupon but never go. Tempura green beans is also very tasty!

Beau Lotus 涟 said...

Hey, I made Green Bean Fries (with Tempura Batter) a few days ago! Was making fried Zucchini flowers and decided to do a batch of green beans in the remaining batter. Ate the flowers with balsamic vinegar but the fries with a plum-soy sauce mix.

Anonymous said...

Wow green bean fries tempura!
I only been to TGI Fridays once and that was in S'pore loo...ng time ago.

Anonymous said...

My family love beans even when they are just boiled or fried with garlic.

For this reason, I have never tried cooking it any other way. :) Fried beans sounds scrumptious.

Aimée said...

That's a neat idea. Certainly a way to get kids to eat their greens. They look really yummy!

Anh said...

I love the soud of your dressing... Nice!!!

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi San.y,
LOL! The noodles for the stir-fried green beans were well hidden indeed.

Hi Daphne,
Were you referring to the green bean fries? Go right ahead! :D

Hey C,
Waaah! You have coupons? Why don't I get any coupons? Yeah, I like the tempura green beans better. hehe!

Hi Beau lotus
Haha! Great minds, uh? Your zucchini flowers with balsamic sounds yummy.

Hi Tigerfish,
Hehe! Time to try their green beans fries hor?

Hi Judy,
You're lucky!

Hi Aimee,
It definitely help to get veggies down the kids. Thanks!

Hi Anh,
Try the dressing, it's great!

wonda said...

Panko is breadcrumbs, either soft or flaky type. I think from the picture, it looks like tempura french beans, using tempura flour. Sorry, I missed so many of your posts. Have been busy

Indonesia Eats said...

I bet my husband would love to eat them all. I will try one day. Thank you

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Jackson,
It's fun and the dip goes great with the green bean fries!

Hi Andaliman,
It's the only way my hubs will eat all the green beans in one sitting.:)

Blur Mommy said...

The green bean fries sounds really good. I've never done it this way b4. I think my gal will like it. :)

wonda said...

I thought I left a comment yesterday. I made tempura french beans (green beans) and other veggies last month. There is something I don't understand in your recipe. What is the difference between wasabi and horseradish? Panko is breadcrumbs, either soft or flaky type, and different from tempura flour. So which one did you use? The photo of the greens looks like tempura green beans to me.

IronEaters said...

they looked good.I like to fry them using the tempura batter, its v crunchy n just addictive basically =D

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Blur Mommy,
My kids loved the green beans dipped in ketcup, and I think your girl might like them too!

Hi Alice,
Hmmmm....I didn't see your comment til tonight. Wonder how I missed it. Sorry.
To clarify this recipe, the wasabi is the green powdered form sold here, and the prepared horseradish is the bottled ready-made horseradish that we usually use with prime rib. For some reason, this recipe which is a copycat recipe my girlfriend gave me, indicates that I use both, and I did.
In my description I wrote that I used panko, and put in brackets tempura breading as some people generally know what tempura breading is and not necessary familiar with panko.
The Panko bag I bought from the asian market said Panko in the label, and when I came home and opened it, I discovered that it's very fine bread crumbs. Because of the steps and way it was made, it did turn out looking like tempura batter.
I apologise if this recipe confused you in any way.
You are probably the expert since you've been residing in Japan, and perhaps you should reinvent this recipe?

Hi Ironeaters,
Yes they are!

Cynthia said...

TGI Fridays opened less than a month ago here in Barbados and let me tell you: I am not going back!

I've had some not too bad experiences with them in the US.

I will definitely try the green bean fries you made.

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Cynthia,
I had a some not too good experiences with them in the past too, but their location was convenient for us, so we decided to try them again. As with most chain restaurants, it's a miss or score when it came to service and which cook they have on duty I guess.
Hope you'll find the greeen bean fries and dip more enjoyable in the comforts of your home. :)

KellytheCulinarian said...

Yum! I've had that dish there as well and I loved it. I don't know how healthy it is, but I've convinced myself it's not horrible :)

Big Boys Oven said...

Wah sooooo lovely.... looks so appealing and so delicious. Thumbs up! Now after all this compliment, I hope you can cook something for us.....lol!

wonda said...

emwk,
High praises from my friends for your lemon potato salad. Brought it for ladies prayer meeting two weeks ago. I made a cheap one without the sour cream and fresh herbs (esp. dill which is not sold near my place). Thank you for the clairification. I want to try this french beans recipe but aren't horseradish and wasabi both too hot plus the cayenne pepper? Is it grated radish or horseradish ?

WokandSpoon said...

Mmmm, I love green beans! I eat them stir fried, boiled, steamed, microwaved - any way at all! And yeah, that sounds better for me than french fries!

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Kelly,
LOL! Me too! I tell myself it's better than potatoes. :)

Hi Big Boys Oven,
LOL! Okay! Coming soon. :)

Hi Wonda,
There are two kinds of bottled horseradish sold here, both are grated and I used the one that is a creamy horseradish (milder). Yes, this is an adult dip, and has a little kick to it, but the cucumber does cool it down. And so good with the green bean fries.
I made the dip again last night with just a little wasabi, cucumbers, garlic powder, pepper and ranch dressing, and it worked too. Adjust the amount of wasabi gradually to suit your taste.

Hi Wokandspoon,
My kids are bored with green beans, but love this green bean fries. SUSAH!

SteamyKitchen said...

ohhhhh deeeeeep fried beans....does that count as a serving of vegetables?

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Steamy Kitchen
Definitely!