Golden Fried Kevin Greene Beans with Spicy Dill Dip


Ooh baby, these fried green beans are GOOD. We've fried a lot of things here at Stiller Snacks - hash browns, corn fritters, sweet pa-tater tots - but this fried finger food might take the cake (so to speak). At least the Creative Director thinks so, and he's tried them all.



Kate was gracious enough to have me over to watch the second Steelers matchup of the preseason, so I showed her my gratitude by bringing a big batch of fried green beans with some spicy dill dipping sauce. (That's me when we finally got the WatchESPN app to work, thanks to a generous friend with a subscription to the necessary cable provider.) We broke out the golden, crispy beans during the second quarter, and they were gone by halftime - now that's the sign of a successful snack. Speaking of the game, here's a quick recap of the action: 

Game Bites
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Washington Redskins



Uh, so, we had some technical difficulties and my  flippin' Preseason Live app had the Monday Night Football matchup blacked out! It took 45 minutes (all of the first quarter and the start of the second) to get the ESPN app to work. Serious fail. $Bill sent me updates in the meantime and it doesn't sound like we missed much...

First Quarter: Text msg via $Bill - "Ben threw a pick 6 4 skins TD. O Line has 5 penalties already - 3 holds, 1 hands 2 face, 1 illegal 4mation." Thanx 4 the info, $.

Second Quarter: We finally were able to tune in a few minutes into the second quarter, just in time to see my man Shaun Suisham kick a field goal for the Steelers' first points of the game, making it 3-7, WSH. John Gruden won't stop talking anout RGIII, blah blah blah...

Lawrence Timmons yanked WSH QB Kirk Cousins down out of bounds. Cousins out with some variation of a foot sprain. Kate laughed every time they said "Kirk Cousins."

Gradkowski in at QB, fumbles for a WSH turnover on his first snap. 

But then, Ike Taylor fumble recovery with 8:30 left in the second quarter! 

WSH TD called back due to illegal touching... uh... "fooled on the naked bootleg"?? Yuck. Next play, Rex Grossman throws TD pass to #85 Hankerson.

Gradkowski drilled ref in the back with a pass. Suisham gets a good workout and makes another FG, making it 14-6, WSH.

Redskins make another field goal just before halftime. 

Score at the half: 17-6, WSH

Third Quarter: Landry Jones in the game, makes a much cleaner first handoff than in last week's game against NYG. Makes multiple handoffs to Dwyer to come up with a new set of downs. 

John Gruden, please stop saying "RoeTHELSberger."

Fourth Quarter: Landry Jones to #14 Moye for first offensive TD of the preseason!

Flag, illegal use of hands by Guy Whimper, which prompted Kate to ask if football players have stage names. I don't think so. 

Shamarko Thomas, big fat hit and forced fumble. Nice.

Helu Jr. for another WSH TD. 24-13, Redskins.

Then there were probably a bunch more turnovers that I missed. Final words of wisdom from Kate: "Larry Foote's thinking about dinner on the sidelines."

Final Score: 24-13, WSH



Kevin Greene! In relation to his entire playing career, Greene wasn't actually a Steeler for all that long, spending only three seasons with the Black & Gold. Despite his relatively short tenure with the team, he was a member of and contributing factor towards the success of the 1995 AFC Championship team. He was also one of my favorites as a kid. I couldn't get over those long, golden locks. He looked  like a cross between Thor and a much older, beefier Hanson brother. (This was way before Clay Matthews, mind you.) As an 8 year old kid, I just thought he looked totally awesome and that he had an enviable coif. 




Green departed from Pittsburgh after the Super Bowl loss at the end of the 1995 season, playing for the San Francisco 49ers, then the Carolina Panthers. And then, he gave professional wrestling a shot for a year or so. Nowadays, he's the outside linebackers coach for the Green Bay Packers, a position he's held since 2009. In a cruel twist, Greene won his first Super Bowl ring coaching the Packers against the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. Boo. But hey, this Greg Gumbel interview with Kevin Greene and Greg Lloyd brings me back to the good old days...



Those flowing golden locks put me in mind of some golden fried snacks, as I mentioned at the outset. These fried green(e) beans are beer-battered and delicious. I whipped up a mildly spicy dill-sour cream dip to go with. 



The original recipe (from the Macheesmo blog - it seemed appropriate) calls for half a pound of green beans and serves 2-4. Since I wanted to make enough to share with Kate and the Creative Director, I didn't quite double the recipe, but "one-and-a-halved" the batter. Let's get frying -



Golden Fried Kevin Greene Beans with Spicy Dill Dip
Recipe adapted from Macheesmo 

For the beans
1 lb fresh green beans, rinsed and stems removed
1/3 bottle canola oil for frying
1 1/2 cup flour
3 tbsp cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp smoked Spanish paprika
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 egg
1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup lager or pale beer

For the dip
2/3 cup sour cream
2 tbsp mayonnaise
3 tbsp fresh dill, minced
1/2 tbsp hot sauce
1/2 tsp garlic, minced
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Heat canola oil in cast iron pan on stove top over medium-high heat. 

Whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, paprika, salt and cayenne in large mixing bowl. Whisk in egg, vegetable oil and beer until mixture is smooth. Place one handful of green beans at a time into batter. Drop a coated green bean into the oil to test the temperature. If it sizzles and turns golden within a minute, the oil is ready to fry. (I often turn the heat down to medium in order to stabilize the temperature as I fry repeated batches.) 

Carefully drop battered beans into oil in small batches - about 6-8 at a time. Fry for 1-2 minutes per side, until golden brown. Remove with tongs and place on towel-lined plates. Continue until all beans are fried. 

Stir together sour cream, mayo, dill, hot sauce, garlic, mustard powder, cayenne and Worcestershire in small bowl. 

Serves 3-5

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