Special Thanksgiving Green Bean Casserole

Every year, my grown children and grandchildren come home from all over the country to our Alabama home for holiday dinner. This year, we plan to have a Honey baked Ham, Hash brown Casserole, Green Bean Casserole, Deviled Eggs, Yeast Rolls, and Sweet Potato Pie with Whipped Cream. This is pretty much our standard holiday menu, although through the years, the recipes have been tweaked to taste better, much through trial and error (although not much error, as I'm a good cook!)

When making Green Bean Casserole, you can always make the one on the back of the French's Fried Onion can. It's easy, it's good, but it's not nearly as good as the one I'm about to give you the recipe for. Yes, this one is a bit more work, but when you're cooking for special people, the extra work just means you've put a bit more love into your cooking. Plus, you'll receive lots of compliments on this dish, and hearing satisfied family food critics makes it well worth the extra effort. The recipe has three parts: the beans, the sauce and the topping.

Green Bean Casserole

(See notes at bottom)

Beans:

One pound fresh green beans

1 gallon water

2 tablespoons kosher salt (do not use regular table salt)

Sauce:

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter (not margarine!)

12 ounces fresh sliced mushrooms (button or baby portabellos)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup half and half

Topping:

2 medium yellow onions

¼ cup all purpose flour

2 tablespoons plain bread crumbs

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Nonstick cooking spray

Directions

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

Slice the onions into thin slices. Combine the onions, flour, bread crumbs and kosher salt in a large mixing bowl and toss to combine. Coat a cookie sheet 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 by washing and trimming ends. Bring a gallon of water and 2 tablespoons of kosher salt to a boil in an 8-quart saucepan. Blanch (put into the boiling water) 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 heavy skillet 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 prepared onions and all of the green beans. Toss until mixed. Top with the remaining onions. Place into the oven and bake until bubbly, approximately 15 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.

Note: Kosher salt is needed for this recipe. I know it sounds like a lot of salt, but kosher salt is not as "salty" tasting as regular table salt, and you really do need the amount listed to give the right taste to this recipe.

Second note: You can make your onions in the oven a day ahead. You can also blanch the green beans, cool, and refrigerate the day before. Then on "cooking day," you can make the sauce and then put it together to bake.

Once you try this recipe, you won't go back to the standard old mushroom soup/canned onion casserole. You will start a new holiday tradition!