Fresh Green Bean Casserole

Hi guys, welcome back to my channel. So today I'm gonna show you how to make a fantastic vegetable side dish that you can make ahead of time. This, I think, is the saving grace of Thanksgiving, things that you can make ahead of time and all you have to do is heat them up while your turkey is resting. And this fresh green bean casserole is the ticket. So the first thing we're gonna do is prep the green beans. So I have two pounds of green beans here that have been trimmed and washed. So you wanna boil a big pot of water and then you can season it with a little bit of salt to taste and then we wanna blanch these string beans, which means we are just going to parboil them. We don't wanna cook them all the way through because they are gonna be cooking in the oven once we heat them up to serve them. So I think like five to six minutes is the sweet spot. Now, meanwhile, we can prepare our ice bath for the green beans because after the five minute mark, you wanna then put them in this icy bowl of water to stop the cooking. Now, this is the most tedious part. I know it's sort of a pain, this whole blanching and icing, but it does make a difference. It'll prevent your green beans from getting too mushy if you just boil them and then let them cool because they continue to cook and it keeps them a nice pretty green color too. Okay, so into the ice bath they go and they don't need to stay in here long, really just a minute or two until they cool down and turn a bright green. Then pop them in a casserole. I'm using a nine by 13 casserole and then you do wanna pat them dry because if any moisture stays on the green beans, it's going to dilute your sauce. So you wanna make sure that your green beans are nice and dry before we proceed with the sauce. So the first thing we're gonna do is add three tablespoons of butter into a large skillet. You want a nice, large, deep skillet like this because we're gonna be adding a ton of mushrooms in here, but not to worry, they do shrink down, mushrooms, when you cook them. And also we need to have room for all of our sauce as well. So something nice and deep like this is good. I love mushrooms in this dish. I feel like you can never have enough mushrooms. So it's really the supporting role when it comes to the green beans. I don't want them to take over, but I do want them to be present. So we're using three different kinds. I have some shiitake mushrooms, four ounces, four ounces of cremini mushrooms, and then a large portobello mushroom that I have just sliced thin like that. And that should give us plenty of mushrooms. But first we wanna cook our shallots. So I have three quarters of a cup of shallot that I've just cut into like little half moons. I think it's nice to have the shallot be a little bit bigger than a dice because again, you don't want them to get lost. And I find sometimes when you have vegetables that you've cut so small, they kind of sink down to the bottom of the sauce and then people don't really get as many of them. So this way they'll be better distributed, let's hope. Then we are going to season with a little bit of salt and freshly cracked pepper. And all the measurements are in the description below, or you can head to my website, entertainingwithbeth.com to print it out. Okay, these are looking good. Then at this point, we're going to add our mushrooms. It doesn't matter the order, just throw them all in there. I like to use all three of these because I find they each provide a different texture. I think the portabellos are very hearty. The creminis just feel like a regular mushroom. And then the shiitakes are kind of really silky, smooth and light. I just think it's good to have them all. Or if you can't get all of them, just use one kind, but use the same amount. You can season the mushrooms with a little more salt and pepper, and then just cook them down until they start to release their juices. And then you want to add one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce. This is going to give our mushrooms a really delicious, salty, earthy flavor. And then we're going to add two tablespoons of freshly chopped thyme. There, don't those look yummy? One of the reasons why I love this recipe so much is because you're just going to start layering on top of the green beans, which makes it super simple when you're doing each component. So all we're going to do is just put our lovely mushrooms on top of our green beans. I mean, this would be delicious just like this. You don't even need the cream sauce. This looks so yummy. Who are we kidding? We need the cream sauce. Spread them out to make sure that every little part is covered with the mushrooms. That's going to hang out there, and then we're going to make the cream sauce. Essentially, this sauce is a bechamel sauce. I know a lot of recipes out there will call for chicken broth for this casserole, but my feeling is that if it's a vegetable-based dish, I like to just keep it vegetarian because on Thanksgiving, I rely on my side dishes to be mostly vegetarian so that you don't have to make all these separate meals. So it just seems a shame to kind of put the chicken broth in the vegetable side dish. So I am just doing it this way. So first, we're going to melt four tablespoons of butter in our skillet. Once the butter's all melted, you can add your four tablespoons of flour, just regular all-purpose flour. And then you want to cook that just for 30 seconds or so. You'll get like a nice little paste here. This is going to help thicken our sauce. Once it looks like this, then you can add the milk. You don't want to dilly-dally with the milk because you don't want to burn the butter and the flour. Okay, so I'm going to add four cups of milk. Now, this is the part you have to be patient for. You want to just keep stirring it gently. You want it on a medium-high flame, and you just want this sauce to thicken. So it does take a little bit of time. And if you feel like it's not thickening, just stop stirring it for a bit and let the heat work its magic. When this whole thing starts to boil like this, this is when it really starts to thicken. So make sure you give it a good stir, but this is when the flour starts to get activated and will start doing its magic. So you just need to be patient. Then once it's like really going like this, you can turn down your flame and just let it simmer. And then we are going to add some seasoning. So first you're going to add a quarter teaspoon of salt, some freshly cracked pepper, three cloves of garlic that have been minced. And then you also want to add a third of a cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. So the cheese doesn't make it cheesy, really. It just gives it this really great flavor. And it also makes the sauce a little bit more velvety too, which is great. Okay, our sauce is ready to go. Then we're just going to go back to our casserole dish and we're going to pour this on top. And just make sure you do it evenly. So I would go from one end to the next just to make sure it's all covered. And then you can take some tongs and just kind of give it a light toss. I wouldn't really mix it around too much in there because I love to keep those layers pretty intact so that everybody gets enough of the cream sauce, enough of the mushrooms, and enough of the green beans. So this whole part can be done the day before, which is so nice. And then you're just going to cover it with some foil and pop it in your fridge. Then the day of, watch how easy this is. You're just going to remove the foil and the sauce would have thickened a little bit, but don't worry because it'll thin out again once it hits the hot oven. Then you're going to add these classic French's crispy onions. I know it's kind of funny to make everything from scratch, but then head to the crispy onion topping, but it is good. And then all you do is just sprinkle. I use the whole container just because I think it's good to have more than not enough of these little crispy onions. And I think it just gives you just enough. It's as if somebody measured it for a nine by 13 casserole. And then you can spread it out a little bit. I do like to leave a little bit of the edges showing the green beans so people know what's in there. Then you want to put the foil back on because these are going to be stone cold and it'll heat up a lot quicker if you have the foil on. So then you're going to bake this at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25 minutes. Remove the foil and you'll see the sauce will start to be bubbling. Everything will be nice and warm and toasty. And then you just want those onions to kind of crisp up on top. So go for another five minutes. So 30 minutes total, which is about the exact time you need for your turkey to rest. So it should all time out perfectly. And once it's baked, you'll see all of the sauce that's in the bottom of the pan. It's so delicious with the green beans and the mushrooms and the crispy onions. It's a great way to get your veggies with a decadent twist. Okay, let's see. It's so savory with those mushrooms and the cheese and the garlic and the sauce just makes it. And of course those crispy little onion bits. How can you go wrong, right? I hope you guys give this one a try and let me know what you think. And I'll see you back here next week. Until then, bye.