Sunday, November 11, 2012

Not Your Typical Green Bean Casserole

By now you've been seeing the buzz all over social media: Virtual Potluck and OXO have teamed up to bring you a Thanksgiving event. There's a bunch of recipes...including a new way to cook your Thanksgiving turkey and an awesome give away going on so be sure to stop by all the VP blogs.

To add an extra dimension to this event I decided to host a 1960's themed Thanksgiving dinner and do a photo blog of all the OXO tools I used. You can check out the photos and find contest info here.

In staying with the theme I made some dishes that would not normally be on our holiday table....like a raspberry jello ring and green bean casserole. As much as I wanted to be authentic with this I couldn't bring myself to use canned green beans, mushroom soup or fried onions. Using all of the OXO kitchen tools made the rest of my dinner prep so easy leaving me plenty of time to make this green bean casserole from scratch.



Made From Scratch Green Bean Casserole
(adapted from Alton Brown)


For the topping:
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Nonstick cooking spray

For beans and sauce:
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.

11 comments:

  1. Now this is a green bean casserole that I could love!

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  2. I'm in charge of green bean casserole for Thanksgiving, and now will be making yours!

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  3. might not be typcial but boy does it look ever so delicious!

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  4. So much better than the typical green bean casserole - love it!

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  5. Yum! I love dishes that remind me of Thanksgiving at my grandma's house!

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  6. Our Thanksgiving table is not complete without a green bean casserole. Your from-scratch version sounds fantastic!

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  7. I love green bean casserole but I hate to admit I have never made it 100% homemade. This version looks awesome!

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  8. I love green bean casseroles, your from scratch version sounds wonderful!

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  9. always looking for ways to change up green bean casserole YUM

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