Growing up, my family would have 30+ guests over for Thanksgiving dinner every year. My parents would organize a potluck dinner, meaning my dad would make a turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pie, and my mom would make gravy and corn casserole. Everything else was brought to the table by our friends. They would bring everything from fresh dinner rolls to homemade cranberry sauce (though sometimes my mom would also add a sauce of her own – there would always be about three or four cranberry dishes on the table, to my chagrin).
My piano teacher, whose husband worked with my dad and whose daughter went to my school, would always bring green bean casserole with sliced almonds. I loved it. It was absolutely my favorite dish on the table (aside from the stuffing and gravy). Maybe because it’s just really good, maybe because it was like nothing else I ate, and probably because I only ate it for that one occasion a year. I loved it as leftovers, and left all the cranberry sauce to my mom and sister to eat up. I still don’t like cranberries, and I live in the cranberry state!
I digress. Until this fall, I had never really succeeded at making green bean casserole myself. As I’ve gotten older the cans of soup and the cans of fried onions just didn’t appeal to me anymore. Besides, I wanted the challenge of making this from scratch. Unfortunately, the recipe was invented to be made with Campbell’s soup, so there weren’t many guides to go off of.
Needless to say, I was really excited when I found a Cook’s Illustrated (can you see a pattern here?) recipe for green bean casserole without using all the canned ingredients. It’s a little different from the “original,” and I’ve made a few changes to Cook’s Illustrated’s own version, but it was still really easy to make (trust me – the recipe looks intimidating, but it just has a lot of steps, they’re not difficult ones), and it is absolutely delicious. But perhaps one of the best things about it is that it can be made several days in advance, and when it comes time for dinner it’s simply topped with the onion breadcrumb mixture and reheated.
What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dish? What could you live without?
Green Bean Casserole from Scratch
For the topping
4 slices of cubed bread (anything from sandwich to homemade is fine; while white will taste more “traditional” wheat is also really good)
4 Tbsp butter
salt and pepper, to taste
1 medium onion, sliced
For the beans
Salt
2 lbs fresh green beans, ends trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces (I imagine frozen french-cut beans would be delicious here, but I’ve not tried yet – if using frozen beans, omit the blanching step and simply defrost them in a colander)
3 Tbsp butter
1 lb mushrooms (although white or crimini is fine, the more flavorful the better – I used hen of the woods, but shiitake or, if you can get them, chanterelles would also be delicious)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 cups chicken broth (low sodium, or homemade stock)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
To make the topping:
1. Toast the cubed slices in a 350F oven until they are golden. Let cool, then blend or crush with 2 tablespoons of the butter in a food processor until you have crumbs the size of kidney beans (you’ll have a variety of sizes, some of it will be powder, but you don’t want anything larger than a kidney bean).
2. In a heavy frying pan (preferably cast iron) over medium-low heat, melt the remaining two tablespoons of the butter until foaming subsides, and add the sliced onions and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden brown. This will take up to twenty minutes or more so be patient.
3. If making ahead, keep the onions and breadcrumbs in separate containers in the refrigerator. If baking right away, mix the two together in a bowl and set aside.
For the beans:
1. If baking right away, preheat the oven to 425F. First blanch the beans by cooking them in boiling water like so: Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil with 2 tablespoons of salt. Meanwhile, set up a large bowl of cold ice water next to the stove. Add the prepared beans into the boiling water and cook for 5 minutes. They will not be done, but you do not want to cook them until done or they will end up over-cooked in the final dish. Drain the beans in the colander and submerge them in the ice water to stop the cooking. Drain from the ice water and shake off as much of the water as possible.
2. In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter. When the foaming subsides, add the mushrooms, garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until the mushrooms’ liquid evaporates, about five minutes.
3. Add the flour and stir constantly, cooking for about one minute. This will make what is called a “roux” or flour/butter thickener. Add the cold broth to the roux/mushroom mixture (important: if you add hot broth to hot roux, you will get lumps – the broth must be cold). Stirring constantly, bring the broth and roux mixture to a simmer, then add the cream and cook until it is thickened and reduced to about 3 1/2 cups (this may take ten minutes or so). Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add the beans to the mushroom sauce and stir until they are coated evenly. Pour into a 3-quart casserole (or 9×13 inch pan). If baking immediately, cover with breadcrumb and onion mixture and bake in the 425F preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until it is bubbly. If making ahead, refrigerate the covered casserole. When ready to bake, first bake the casserole without topping for 10 minutes, then add the topping and bake for another 15 minutes until bubbly.