Caramelized Green Beans with Bacon

Wash green beans and trim ends. Cut longer beans in half if you prefer them that way. Set aside.

In a 10 or 12-inch heavy skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove cooked bacon and crumble. Discard all but 2 tablespoons of bacon grease from skillet.

Add water, onion, and green beans to skillet. Add a couple dashes of pepper to the green beans and stir. Cover skillet and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 12 minutes. The onions and some of the beans will darken toward the end of the 12 minutes, so stir more frequently then.

Reduce heat to medium low, uncover, and stir in brown sugar. Continue cooking, uncovered, stirring 2 more minutes as sugar carmelizes and coats the beans.

Remove from heat and serve immediately.