Alton Brown Inspired Green Bean Casserole
Many years ago, we began watching Good Eats – a cooking show starring Alton Brown. He always explains the science behind the cooking and maybe that is why we love the show.
I don’t remember Green Bean Casserole being a holiday staple when I was growing up, but I do remember it being a church Pot Luck staple!
This year, Jerry and Emily discovered a Green Bean Casserole recipe that included water chestnuts. It added such a nice crunch to the dish that I have added them to this.
This recipe might be more complicated than just opening cans, but well worth the effort.
Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.
Ingredients for the topping:
2 Med onions, thinly sliced
¼ cp all-purpose flour
2 tbs panko bread crumbs
1 tsp kosher salt
Nonstick cooking spray
Ingredients for beans and sauce:
2 tbs kosher salt, divided
1 lb fresh green beans, rinsed, trimmed and halved
1 can whole water chestnuts, drained and coarsely chopped
2 tbx unsalted butter
12 oz mushrooms, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 clv garlic, minced
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
2 tbs all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
Instructions:
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, water chestnuts 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.
This is an easy conversion to either vegetarian or vegan. Use veg broth, soy milk and olive oil to replace Chicken broth, ½ & ½ and butter. Also, be careful about your Panko. Some are vegan and some aren’t.