Hey everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know we did. There’s something about this holiday that just makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside. Maybe it’s the turkey. Or all the yummy sides. Just kidding. Obviously the warm and fuzzies come with spending time with family, but there really is something to be said about hanging out, eating and just enjoying each other over delicious grub and of course, football on the TV.
This Thanksgiving, I was in charge of bringing a green bean casserole to my mother-in-law’s house for our first Thanksgiving Feast of the day. Now, while green bean casserole is all well and good, I’m just not a HUGE fan of a can of beans mixed in with a can of cream of mushroom soup, topped with those French’s fried onions. I mean, it’s good and all, but… it’s not special.
I wanted to make something SPECIAL, so I found a recipe that looked promising. It’s from Alton Brown, and honestly, I’ve never ever gone wrong with an Alton Brown recipe. Ever. He’s an exceptional recipe writer. I say this because most of the time when I’m following a recipe, I find that I either under or over cook the dish, even when following the time and temperature instructions to a T. But with Mr. Brown’s, it’s always exactly the way he writes it. No more or less. It’s pretty amazing, really.
So I went ahead and made his “Best Ever Green Bean Casserole,” and dang. It was that something special I was looking for. The dish took the best of the classic and just turned it up several notches.
I got to making the casserole a bit earlier than I planned, because I was scare that it was going to take a lot longer than the recipe called for, mostly because I’m suspicious by nature, but also because I’m pretty slow when it comes to trimming fresh beans. I just wanted to give myself some extra time.
Apparently I didn’t really need the extra time, because my husband was being extra nice, and helped me in trimming the beans and getting everything prepped to start cooking. Aww… He’s the best.
I think that the best part of making this casserole was when I realized half way through that I had indeed created some sort of scratch-made cream of mushroom soup. I looked at it simmering away in the pan and was like… WAIT A SECOND. I took a taste, and thought to myself, this is the best dang cream of mushroom soup I’ve ever had in all of my life… It was impressive, to say the least.
This next-level casserole had us all going back for more, and that my friends, that made me so happy. There’s little better than hearing people fawn over something that you created with your own hands. It’s the reason I love to cook in the first place. Making people happy, and smile.. that is one of my greatest joys, and if I can accomplish that through what I create, even better.
We had a great time at BOTH of our thanksgiving fiestas, and I was really happy there was just enough left to bring to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving #2! Here’s some photos from our day:
Meanwhile, check out this bump!!! 23 weeks and counting… Don’t forget to check out my weekly Pregnancy Journals!
Anyway, here’s the recipe for Alton Brown’s Best Eve Green Bean Casserole!!!
- 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 1 pound fresh green beans, rinsed, trimmed and halved
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 12 ounces mushrooms, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup half-and-half
- Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.
- Combine the onions, flour, panko and salt in a large mixing bowl and toss to combine. Coat a sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray and evenly spread the onions on the pan. Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake until golden brown, approximately 30 minutes. Toss the onions 2 to 3 times during cooking. Once done, remove from the oven and set aside until ready to use. Turn the oven down to 400 degrees F.
- While the onions are cooking, prepare the beans. Bring a gallon of water and 2 tablespoons of salt to a boil in an 8-quart saucepan. Add the beans and blanch for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and immediately plunge the beans into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.
- Melt the butter in a 12-inch cast iron skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to give up some of their liquid, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and nutmeg and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to combine. Cook for 1 minute. Add the broth and simmer for 1 minute. Decrease the heat to medium-low and add the half-and-half. Cook until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally, approximately 6 to 8 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in 1/4 of the onions and all of the green beans. Top with the remaining onions. Place into the oven and bake until bubbly, approximately 15 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.
- Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2007: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/best-ever-green-bean-casserole-recipe.html
- If you, like me, do not have a cast iron pan, then do all the steps in a normal pan of your choosing. When it comes time for baking, just transfer the green bean + onion + cream sauce mixture into a casserole dish, and then bake from there.
