Homemade Green Bean Casserole, the Grown-up, Food Lovers Version

14.11.2011 Jackie Dodd-Mallory (Senior Editor) 28 Comments

I have a lot of Non-American readers, making it necessary for my to explain why I’m doing a post about a green bean casserole.

In America, we have this very strange tradition of making our Thanksgiving feast from cans of food. Nearly every dish that most Americans grew up eating on that November Holiday involved a can of soup, or a package of Jell-o. I see you all, nodding your American heads in agreement. A smile for Grandmas Jell-o salad that still graces your Holiday table because your own kids would FLIP if it wasn’t there in that big Pyrex bowl. I know, don’t think I was exempt from this in my upbringing. But we are grown-ups now. We live in a country that has over 13 million acres of farm land dedicated to fruits and veggetables. We even grow 100 million TONS of produce every year.

We should eat it.

A lot of it. Eat food, not chemicals.

Try it, my American friends, we are lucky enough to live in a country with more produce that we could ever eat. Let’s give it a shot.

Could you do it? Cook an entire Thanksgiving without ONE can? I’m gonna.

Grown-up Homemade Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients

Topping:

• 2 leeks
• 1 large white onion
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 1 tbs salt

Casserole:

• 5 cups fresh green beans, trimmed and cut in half
• 2 tbs butter
• 4 cups Crimini mushrooms (baby bella), washed and chopped
• 3 large cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 cup of chicken broth
• 2 tbs flour
• 1 cup cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Cut the leeks (white and very light green portion only) into thin rings. Cut the onion into thin slices. place in a small bowl and toss with the olive oil to coat. Add to a baking sheet and add the Panko bread crumbs and salt, toss to combine.
3. Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes, tossing about every 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven when a golden brown color is reached.
4. Place the green beans in a pot of rapidly boiling water. Boil for 5 minutes and immediately drain by pouring into a colander, rinse with cold water for 2 minutes to stop the cooking.
5. In a sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes, or until they turn a dark brown. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
6. In a separate bowl, add the chicken broth and the flour, stir to combine. Pour into the pan through a mesh strainer to remove any flour lumps. Stir until thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat, add the cream and stir until combined. Return to heat and allow to cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add the green beans and 1/2 cup of the onion/leek mixture, stir. Pour into a 2 quart baking dish.
7. Time management tip: If you want to make this the day before Thanksgiving, this is where you stop. Cover the baking dish and put it into the fridge. Put the cooled onion/leek mixture in a separate container of Ziplock bag to prevent them from getting soggy from sitting on the top of the casserole all night.
8. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes, covered with aluminum foil. Remove foil, add onions, and bake for 10 more minutes or until warmed through.

(note: if you are cooking this after removing from the fridge, as in the above Tip, cook covered for 20 minutes then add the onions and bake for ten more.)