Green bean casserole in my husband’s family is sacred. You do not mess with the green bean casserole. I do not buy into these types of allegiances, and feel that if you find a better tasting way to prepare something, then by all means. While I am pretty certain that the majority of his family members still do not subscribe to my line of thought, this green bean casserole has been accepted with praise and that is good enough for me. Baby steps!
I really don’t like canned green beans, but for a casserole, I think that texture and flavor is pretty trademark and cannot be avoided, so I still use the canned frenched beans. I also think the trademark fried onion topping is also expected, I kept them, if only so that the family could recognize the dish. There are sautéed sweet onions and mushrooms, green beans, a slightly tangy sour cream béchamel sauce and lots of cheddar cheese, plus the traditional crunchy onion topping.
Not-Your-Mother’s Green Bean Casserole (Printable Recipe)
2 large sweet onions sliced in thin rings
3-4 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter for sautéing
1 teaspoon white sugar (if needed)
2 tablespoons butter for béchamel
1½ tablespoon flour
1½ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3 – 14.5 ounce cans frenched green beans drained well
1 – 6 ounce can french fried onions
Butter
In a saucepan sauté the onions and mushrooms until the onions are caramelized. If the sugar content is not high enough in the onions to get them to caramelize, add the sugar a little at a time, you don’t want the dish to be sweet. Remove to a bowl. Don’t wash the saucepan.
Over medium heat, melt the butter to make your béchamel. Sprinkle the flour into the butter and stir until incorporated. Reduce the heat to low and add 1 cup of cheese ¼ cup at a time stirring until the cheese is just melted (overheating cheese causes it to separate and turn gloppy and puddled with oil - ick!). Turn off the heat and stir in the sour cream. Add the green beans, mushrooms & onions, red pepper flakes and garlic. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top of the dish.
Bake in a preheated 350oF oven until bubbly. Add the french fried onions to the top and bake until the onions are crisped. This dish can be prepared and refrigerated up to two days ahead of time. Just bake in time for dinner.
2 comments:
Your husband's family sure is kinda weird! LOL I never liked my mother's green bean casserole...it was always too runny, like she never drained the green beans or something. I like mine nice and gooey and stick to my ribs. Do love my french... onions though...most times I don't have enough to put in the casserole because once I open the can...that's it (and I buy the big huge can!!)
Rob and the kids don't like it, so I'm the only one who eats it. Your recipe looks delish...I'll prolly try it, but w/out the onions (for some reason I hate onions w/green beans). Thanks for posting.See More
Aren't they!?! You'll love it Aunt T! And the kids get to my FF Onions too, so really about only half the can makes it to the actual dish. Guess I should have allowed for that in the recipe! Last year I had an extra can in the pantry, but then when I went to use it, there was like 1/4 of it left. What can you do? LOL! I think your mom had so many kids to feed that any extra juice in the can was needed at the table and not down the drain!
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