I just read Shannon's thread about "Ham recipes" where she mentions green bean casserole.
We used to have a restaurant here that served a really good GBC, but it went out of business (or southern-speak: bidness). I made one a couple of nights ago and it is just BLAH.
I'll give my recipe so if anyone can spice it up a little I would appreciate it. I don't like and can't eat the fried onions that are mentioned in a lot of the recipes:
CLASSIC GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE 2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup 1 cup milk 2 tsp. soy sauce 1/4 tsp. black pepper 8 cups cooked cut green beans 1/2 cup sliced almonds 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1. Stir soup, milk, soy sauce, pepper, beans, almonds, mushrooms in a 3 qt. casserole dish. 2. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until hot. stir. serve.
I looked in my grandma's cookbook where there are several different versions of this. These recipes called for Worcestershire instead of soy, and some called for cream of celery or chicken instead of cream of mushroom. None of them included the milk but one called for half cup of sour cream.
They all called for some kind of crunchy topping; if not the onions, some grated cheese and buttered breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs on top.
The sour cream sounds good. I didn't use regular milk, I used soy milk, so that could also account for the different taste. Mine was a bit runny.
Worcestershire sauce has tomato in it (!!!) and I'm allergic to tomatoes.
My recipe called for 2 cans of cream of mushroom, but since I only had one, I used a can of cream of celery. The old man prefers mushroom, so maybe I'll stick with the 1/2 and 1/2 version.
I think I might add buttered breadcrumbs too the next time. I'll let you know how my next effort comes out.
I know it's well after the holidays, but here's the recipe I always use:
Green Bean Casserole From Fifty-Two Meat Loaves by Michael McLaughlin
6 Tbls Butter ½ cup finely chopped onion ¼ cup flour 2 tsp sugar 2 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper 16 oz sour cream 1/3 cup sherry nutmeg 2 lbs frozen green beans (I usually use French cut or whole), thawed and drained 1 cup corn flakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a shallow 3-quart baking dish.
Melt 4 Tbls of the butter in a large sauce pan. Stir in onions, flour, sugar, salt and pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes. Whisk in sour cream. Cook, stirring occasionally until thick (about 3 minutes). Stir in sherry and pinch of nutmeg. Add green beans and transfer mixture to prepared baking dish. Can be prepared ahead to this point; cover and refrigerate, but bring to room temp before baking.
Sprinkle corn flakes crumbs over the bean mixture. Melt remaining 2 Tbls butter and drizzle over corn flakes. Bake for about 35 minutes until filling is bubbling and topping is lightly browned. Let casserole rest 5 minutes before serving.
