My Famous Green Bean Casserole
Growing up, one of my favorite parts of the Holiday season was getting to eat green bean casserole! I loved everything about how salty and crunch and just plain delicious it was. As I started to grow up (and I realized how much junk is in canned green beans and cream of mushroom soup), I decided to try and revamp the recipe using more natural ingredients.
The result? A MUCH better tasting, kick-ass casserole that will have your guests begging for the recipe. Last year I spent Thanksgiving for the first time with my boyfriends family. They asked me to contribute a dish and I chose this one. If that doesn’t tell you how confident I am (and how delicious is is), then I don’t know what will!
What You’ll Need
1 lb of fresh green beans (cleaned and cut in half)
1/2lb of mushrooms (cleaned and sliced)
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
2 cloves of garlic, mined
1 cup chicken stock (I love Swanson)
1 cup heavy cream
1 Teaspoon of soy sauce
1 and 1/3 cup of French’s French Fried Onions (no matter how unhealthy these are, they are irreplaceable)
Salt and Pepper
What You’ll Do
1) Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add a heaping tablespoon of salt and then add your green beans. Blanch them for 5 minutes. Drain and quickly place green beans in an ice bath (shock them) to stop them from cooking any further.
Green Beans in Ice Water
2) In a large pan over medium high heat, melt the butter and add mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes (don’t add salt yet, it draws out the liquid and will make the mushrooms take longer to cook). After the mushrooms have begun to soften a little, add the minced garlic, salt and pepper and cook for another minute or two.
Mushrooms in Pan with Butter and Garlic
Photo Credit: wednesdaychef.typepad.com
3) After your minute or two is up, sprinkle the flour over the mushroom/garlic mixture. Stir it around for a minute and the add in the chicken stock. Cook for one more minute and then reduce the heat to medium low and add the heavy cream and soy sauce. Cook until the mixture thickens (about 8 minutes)
4) Once the sauce thickens, turn off the heat and stir in your green beans and 1 cup of the french fried onions.
5) Transfer mixture to an oven safe baking dish (I just use a pie dish, why not?) and put into a 350 degree the oven for about 20 minutes (or until bubbly and hot). Add remaining french fried onions and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
Super simple right?! The other great thing about this dish is that you can make it ahead of time (skip step 5 and just transfer it to your oven safe dish, let it cool and store it in the fridge until you are ready to bake). A half hour before you are ready to eat, just finish with step 5!
I am getting hungry just thinking about this dish and I’m confident you and your family will love it as much as I do.
Love always,
Erica
Everything Erica 