Green Beans

We finally can find the same little haricots verts (say Harryko vair, not “virts,” as I have heard a few cooks say) as are sold in France, at unheard of prices. Be smart, go to your supermarket on the day the fresh beans arrive and dig down toward the bottom of the heap; the little ones always slip downward. Suck small beans are at the peak of flavor because their sugars have not yet turned to starches.

To use larger beans, french them, which means remove the strings on both sides o