Updated Green Bean Casserole

I have fond memories of the green bean casserole that was served to company a lot when I was growing up.  It was the everything with a can of Campbell's Condensed Soup era. The original featured canned or frozen French cut green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and French's crispy French Fried Onions. One day I decided to do an internet search for a made-from-scratch version of this old family fav and found this one. 

Fortunately I printed it out as I can no longer find this specific link. It's fussier than the other recipes, but can be mostly prepared the day before. While the canned crispy onions are still there, all the other ingredients are fresh. The day before I make the mushroom sauce, blanch the green beans and process the fresh bread crumbs, then package everything up. It only takes just a few minutes to assemble the day of in a casserole and pop in the oven. 

I love it. I had to make a few small changes, but mostly the same. The only problem I had was with the baking time and temperature. The original recipe said 425 degrees, but the top browned to fast. I dropped the temp to 375 for 30 minutes and it still browned a bit too much.  So next time I will either I will cover the casserole with foil for the first 15 minutes, OR I will cook it without the topping for 15 minutes (covered in foil) and then add the topping and continue to cook uncovered for the last 15 minutes. 

One note - if you don't warm all the ingredients to room temperature, it will take longer to bake.  I even warm the sauce a bit in the microwave before pouring on to start the heating process.  Enjoy!

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Updated Green Bean Casserole

Beans and Sauce -

2 lbs.                   Fresh Green Beans, trimmed (can leave whole or cut in smaller pieces)
3 T                      Unsalted Butter
1 lb.                    Fresh white button mushrooms, trimmed and sliced or diced
3                         Medium Garlic Cloves, minced or pressed
3 T                      All-purpose Flour
1-1/2 C               Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1-1/2 C               heavy cream or half and half
Ground Black Pepper

Topping-

2  slices              Fresh bread (your fav) pulsed in food processor into crumbs
2 T                      Butter, melted
1/4 tsp                 Salt
Dash Black Pepper
1 can                   French Fried onion rings (79 grams / 2.8 oz each can)

The day before -

Blanch the green beans in 4 quarts of salted boiling water until crisp tender. Drain and plunge into ice water to stop cooking. Spread beans on paper towel to fully dry. Store in air-tight container in the refrigerator with some paper towel to absorb moisture.

2. Make Sauce - Melt butter until foaming subsides. Add mushrooms and garlic and cook until mushrooms release moisture and the liquid evaporates - about 6 minutes. Add flour stirring constantly until well blended and then slowly add cream and chicken broth, mixing well as you go. Simmer until sauce is thick and reduced to 3-1/2 cups - about 12 minutes - and then season with salt and pepper to taste. Cool and store in air tight container in refrigerator.

The day of -

Set everything out earlier in the day to bring the ingredients to room temp. I even spread the beans in my prepared 9 x 13 casserole and leave them uncovered to help remove any excess moisture.

Pre-heat oven to 375 and prepare a 9 x 13 casserole.  Add green beans to mushroom sauce, mix until evenly coated and then spread evenly in your baking dish. Mix topping ingredients and sprinkle over casserole in a smooth layer. Bake until top is golden brown and sauce is bubbling around the edges. If top browns too quickly cover with foil until the casserole is done. Mine did.  Alternately you could bake 15 minutes without the topping and then add, OR bake the first 15 minutes covered in foil and then uncover for the second 15 minutes (3 options here). 

Serve immediately.

Note - Leftovers are not near as good as fresh from the oven, so reduce the recipe for smaller get-togethers. 

If the family is coming to your house this holiday season, give yourself a break and do a few easy things so you have time to enjoy the company. The food will taste better if everyone is less stressed and you'll be happier you were the host if you actually get to enjoy the day.