From the ArcaMax Publishing, Recipes by Zola Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/zola/s-557429-309433
Alternative Lyrics
Sea-salt-roasted green beans with an Asian dipping sauce
Many of you probably know it as “Stars and Stripes Forever”.
That’s the real title. I just never knew it that way. I was a wee
little one when I first heard this song. My father used to whistle it
as Memorial Day approached. My father was quite the whistler.
One day my father approached me and my brother. We were probably
about 4 and 5 years old at the time. He asked if we knew the words to
the song he was whistling. We didn’t of course, so he decided to
“play” with us a bit and teach us the alternative lyrics. Truth
be known, the alternative lyrics probably made more sense to a couple
of little mites like us, so we had a ball learning it.
He began,
“Be kind to your web-footed friends,
For a duck may be somebody’s mother…”
I have a feeling we giggled hysterically because I still giggle to
this day whenever I hear that song.
So if you are still feeling a bit patriotic after our latest Memorial
Day, click here to listen to the song. This rendition is really funny
because of the group of guys singing it. It’s not dirty. Don’t
be alarmed. And it’s short too.
http://www.csufresno.edu/folklore/drinkingsongs/mp3s/1970s/
To this day I still have a hankering each Memorial Day to attend a
parade. Thankfully, my husband allows me this little diversion, with
no complaints. He seems to enjoy the pomp and patriotism offered at
these parades. Now that my father had passed on, I see him in the
faces of the WW2 veterans marching along, or being pushed in
wheelchairs. It brings back some great memories of Memorial Day
parades past and this funny song he taught us when we were little. To
this day I don’t know the real words to the song. For me a duck has
become a patriotic symbol of easier, sunny days of my past.
For those of you curious to see the lyrics to “Stars and Stripes
Forever” by the famous John Philip Sousa, I’ve included a link
here. You’ll have to come up with your own accompaniment however.
http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/starsandstripesforever.html
If you’re older, feel free to teach the lyrics of this fun, little
ditty to someone small. I’m confident they’ll never forget who
taught it to them. And just in time for Flag Day or the 4th of July
too!
Sea-salt-roasted green beans with an Asian dipping sauce
This is a super-simple appetizer. I came up with it on the fly
about a week ago and it received rave reviews. I can see myself
serving this one up several times over the summer. You could even do
these on the grill if you want to.
Serves 4 – 6
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
One handful of beans per person (about 10 beans per person). Trim off
the stems.
Sea salt
Olive oil spray or drizzle of olive
oil out of the bottle
3/4 cup of sweet and sour sauce
1
tsp of Asian hot chili oil (or to taste)
In a shallow pan pile on your beans. Spray or drizzle on olive oil.
Grate sea salt over the beans and then toss with your hands to get
them all covered in oil and salt.
Roast 12 to 15 minutes until crisp-cooked. You want them hot all the
way through and loosened up, but still slightly crispy. You can do
this same thing on the grill with indirect heat in a grill pan so they
don’t drop through the grates on the grill. If the beans start to
get wrinkly you definitely want to pull them off. I try to get them
out before this point but it’s not too late to serve them if they
get wrinkles.
While the beans are roasting, mix your sauce and chili oil together.
This sauce is supposed to be zippy. Chili oil is rather spicy-hot, so
if you don’t like hot food, tone the amount down a bit. If you want
this more hot than sweet you can add extra. Just add it in bits and
taste test as you go along. The idea is that the sauce tastes sweet
on the front end and has a bit of fire on the back end of the taste.
To serve the beans just place them on a platter in the middle of the
group with a couple small bowls (or ramekins) of the dipping sauce and
let your guests eat them with their fingers. People might look at you
a bit strangely at first. Not many people have eaten green beans as
an appetizer, but once they taste the first one, if your guests are
like mine, the beans will be flying off the platter and the dipping
will be furious.
I like them best hot, but these taste pretty darn good cooled off too.
Cheers!
Enjoy,
Zola
Send email to Zola at zolacooks@gmail.com.