Our favorite tradition for the last 6 years has been to go to Uncle Craig and Aunty Elaine’s for a Thanksgiving brunch every year. But with our deal uncle passing away 4 months ago, we decided to carry on the tradition at our home every year with Aunty Elaine and her family. We had my parents over and my uncle and aunt too, along with Jay’s brother and Aunty Elaine’s granddaughter’s friend, so it sure was a full house, just the way we like it.
I made only the homemade rolls and the green bean casserole, and Jay made the rest of the food, all from scratch. He made two kinds of turkeys, one a regular one and the other kalua turkey, if you haven’t tried kalua turkey, you’re sure missing out! He also made texas roadhouse style sweet potatoes, garlic & cheesy mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade stuffing with bratwurst sausages, cornbread, and haupia pie. It was delicious.
I tried this green bean casserole this year, and I’m never making the canned version ever again. Nothing was from canned food, the cream of mushroom & the onion rings are all made from scratch, with fresh string green beans. Below is the recipe in case you’d like to make it, you will be so happy you did!
I am so grateful. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Not Your Mama’s Green Bean Casserole
prep 4 ∙ cook Easy ∙ source Alton Brown
INGREDIENTS
- 4 medium onions thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons panko bread crumbs
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Nonstick spray
- For beans:
- 2 lb. fresh green beans rinsed and trimmed
- 2 gallon water
- 4 tablespoons kosher salt
- For sauce:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 24 ounces mushrooms trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cup chicken broth
- 2 cup half-and-half
DIRECTIONS
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 spray and evenly spread the onions on the pan. Bake in the oven until golden brown, tossing every 10 minutes, for approximately 30 minutes. 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. 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, 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. Add the half-and-half and cook until the mixture thickens, 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.
NOTES
Total Time:
2 hr 0 min
Prep
45 min
Cook
1 hr 15 min
