You know how sometimes you just want to cook something easy that tastes awesome? Something you can put together without thinking and in no time at all?
These green beans are easy to put together and take about 3 minutes Continue reading
Tag Archives: green beans
Green Bean Casserole: Not Like Mom’s
One of the traditional dishes on our Thanksgiving and Christmas menu is Green Bean Casserole. I grew up on it the way you probably did: canned green beans, cream of mushroom soup, Durkee onions. I don’t know what it is about this simple dish that just makes us love it, but we do.
I just didn’t like the additives, preservatives, massive amount of salt, or the funny canned flavor. There has to be a way to make it better….. And there is.
What happens when you substitute fresh, organic ingredients? Magic, that’s what! The cream sauce infused with garlic and bacon, made with portabella mushrooms and half and half becomes succulent, sweet and rich, meaty with mushroom flavor. The true flavor of the green beans shines and the texture is tender yet with some tooth.
Did I mention the portabellas?
Don’t save this for Thanksgiving or Christmas. It is simple, delicious, and inexpensive.
Green Bean Casserole
- 2 lbs of fresh green beans, trimmed, washed, and cut
- 1 lbs baby portabella mushrooms, sliced thickly
- 1 onion (I used purple) peeled and chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
- 2 strips of bacon, applewood smoked or peppered
- 4 cups heavy cream
- 1 tbs sherry or vermouth
- 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup butter, cut in chunks
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups sliced onions sauted until golden OR 2 cups Durkee Onions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 13×9 inch casserole dish
- Cook green beans until crisp – tender. They will cook more in the oven, so don’t get them too mushy
- Drain green beans well and spoon into prepared pan
- Chop bacon into a small dice, add with onions to the pan
- Saute until the bacon is crisp and brown and the fat is rendered but the onion is not scorched
- Add garlic and mushrooms
- Saute mushrooms in the bacon fat until tender, remove the contents of the pan to casserole dish and mix into the green beans
- Add the sherry ( or vermouth) and the balsamic
- Add the cream and bring to a boil
- Once it reaches a boil turn heat down and maintain a simmer until the cream is reduced and coats the back of a spoon, 5 to 10 minutes
- Whisk in the butter, small pieces at a time and whisk until the butter is melted and the sauce absorbs it
- Taste and adjust seasonings
- Pour over the green bean mixture, top with sauteed onions or Durkee and bake for 20 minutes
Serves 8
images: marye audet
Filed under Vegetables
