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| Green Beans Swimming in a Mushroom Bath |
Sidebar I thought that the green bean casserole must have originated somewhere in France with fresh ingredients then reinvented in the '50s when one-dish meals became popular. WRONG! The Green Bean Cass&*#$+ was created by Campbell's Soup in 1955. Dorcas Reilly was part of Campbell Soup Company's recipe development team and brought Cream of Mushroom Soup and green beans together (two of America's common pantry items).
I did a lot of research and found that Alton Brown (my go to recipe starter) has also discovered a way around the "cream of..." soups. Using fresh green beans and mushrooms and making your own sauce...with cream...makes a world of difference. Result...you can taste each ingredient and the combination of flavors is incredible. Campbell's knew what they were doing, for sure. Now that I have the sauce down, I can update a lot of the old favorites...watch out chicken and wild rice, your next!
NOTE: I'm not trying to knock Campbell's Soup. I use it often. In this instance, I needed to find a replacement. And as my Granddaddy always said, "Fanny, why are you making vegetable soup? It doesn't get any better than how Mr. Campbell makes it". He's right too!
Green Beans in a Mushroom Cream
From Alton Brown's Best Ever Green Bean Casserole Recipe
The topping:
3 medium onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons panko bread crumbs
2 teaspoon kosher salt
Cooking spray
The Beans and Cream:
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1-2 pounds fresh green beans, rinsed, trimmed and halved
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
16 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
1-1/4 cup chicken broth
1-1/4 cup half-and-half
Crunchy Topping Preheat the oven to 475ºF. Combine the onions, flour, panko and salt in a large mixing bowl and toss. Coat a pan with cooking spray and spread the onions evenly. Bake for about 25 minutes, but make sure to toss onions every 5 minutes so they won't burn (if they do, it's okay, they still taste good). Turn the oven down to 400ºF.
The Beans Bring a gallon of water and a few tablespoons of salt to a boil. Add the beans and until just tender, 5 to 10 minutes (they will cook longer in oven later). Drain beans and either dunk in an ice bath or immediately run cold water of the beans. This will keep the beans bright green, a big plus, people eat with their eyes first.
The Sauce Melt butter in a big pan and add the mushrooms, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper and cook until the mushrooms begin to give up some of their liquid, roughly 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 let 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.
The Final Touch Remove from 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 OR once you've put it all together, cover and place in ice box over night. That way, when you get home from work you can stick it right into the oven...20 minutes later, mmmmm, a little bite of goodness and reminder of how far you've come from that high school banquet.
The Beans Bring a gallon of water and a few tablespoons of salt to a boil. Add the beans and until just tender, 5 to 10 minutes (they will cook longer in oven later). Drain beans and either dunk in an ice bath or immediately run cold water of the beans. This will keep the beans bright green, a big plus, people eat with their eyes first.
The Sauce Melt butter in a big pan and add the mushrooms, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper and cook until the mushrooms begin to give up some of their liquid, roughly 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 let 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.
The Final Touch Remove from 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 OR once you've put it all together, cover and place in ice box over night. That way, when you get home from work you can stick it right into the oven...20 minutes later, mmmmm, a little bite of goodness and reminder of how far you've come from that high school banquet.
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