These recipes are from "Out of Kentucky Kitchens" by Marian Flexner.

Grandmother Flexner's Green Beans with Brown Gravy
(3 servings)

1 pound green beans, fresh or frozen - cut in 1 inch pieces
2 tablespoons bacon drippings, butter, or margarine
1 tablespoon flour, rounded
(1/2 teaspoon sugar)
2 cups water
1 small onion, peeled and left whole (or a quarter of a larger onion)
1 small onion, diced
Salt and black pepper to taste

Into a skillet put the bacon drippings. Add the flour and brown slightly. Add diced onion and cook until mixture is dark brown but not burned. Add the water slowly, stirring until slightly thickened and strain over the green beans. Add the whole onion (to lift out later). Salt and pepper to taste, add sugar, cover and simmer slowly 1 hour for fresh beans, 1/2 hour for frozen, or until beans are done. There should be a delicious dark-brown gravy the thickness of heavy cream. If beans cook dry, add a little more water.

Grandmother Flexner's Green Beans with Corn
(6 servings)

To the above recipe add a cup of fresh white corn, cut from the cob (or frozen), and cook for the last 20 minutes before taking the beans from the fire. More salt, pepper, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/2 cup water will be necessary. There should be a little thick gravy when the corn and beans are done, but the mixture should never be runny.

Green Beans with Ham Hock

Ham hock weighing 1 to 1 1/2 pounds
1 quart water
2 pounds green beans
More water if needed
A slice of very hot red pepper or 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt if needed later
1 onion, peeled but not diced

Cover the hock with a quart of water, the hot pepper, sugar, and onion in a Dutch oven or other pot with a close-fitting lid. Simmer slowly for an hour or two until the hock is almost done. Some of the water will have cooked away, and if you are using 2 pounds beans, which is enough to serve 6 people, you will have to add more water to make up the original quart. Do not add salt at first because some hams are so salty that no other seasoning will be needed. Add the beans, put the top on the pan, and simmer slowly for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the beans are tender and have a glossy, almost transparent look. Taste and add salt and more pepper if necessary. By this time most of the liquor should have cooked away. That which remains is served with the beans.

You can also make this with country-cured bacon or hog jowl.

This is southern cooking, so these beans get cooked a good long time. None of that crisp tender business down there in Louie-ville.