Creamy Green Bean Casserole
A quick to pull together mushroom cream sauce keeps these green beans crisp and bright, not soggy and is a slight update to this classic dish. And the sprinkle of our favorite crisp bacon and fried onions gives texture to what could otherwise be a bland limp bite.
Ingredients
- 1 lb Green beans
- 1 Large sweet onion thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp Cornstarch
- 2 Strips bacon chopped
- 2 tbsp EVOO
- ¼ cup Flour
- ¼ cup Wild Mushroom and Sage Olive Oil
- 4 Strips bacon chopped
- 2 cups Cremini mushrooms
- ¾ cup Chicken stock
- ¾ cup Whipping cream
- 1 tsp Cracked Black Pepper
- ½ tsp Fleur de Sel
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese grated
Instructions
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Prepare a large bowl full of ice and cold water next to stove. Line up green beans so ends line up - then chop off ends of green beans. Repeat with the opposing end of the beans, repeating until all beans are chopped.
- Add beans to boiling water and blanch for 3-4 minutes then strain from pot into ice water to halt cooking and keep beans crisp. Drain from ice water and set aside.
- Preheat a skillet over medium heat with enough EVOO to coat pan and about 1/2" deep. Mix together cornstarch, ½ tsp fleur de sel and pepper. Toss some of the thinly sliced onions in cornstarch mixture, then add to hot oil, frying for 2-3 minutes or until onions are golden brown and crisp. With a slotted spoon, drain onions on a paper towel and sprinkle with a little of reserved fleur de sel. Repeat with remaining onions.
- In a skillet over medium heat, mushrooms and cook for 6-8 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. Add chopped bacon to pan and cook until bacon is crisps, then remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Drain all but 1 tbsp of bacon fat into a small mason jar, cover and save for another use! Add Mushroom & Sage Olive Oil to bacon fat and whisk in flour, stirring together to whisk out lumps. Slowly whisk in chicken stock until incorporated, then add whipping cream to sauce, whisking in to sauce until creamy and evenly mixed in. Add mushrooms back to pan, stirring in to coat.
- Add blanched beans to sauce, tossing to coat, then pour into a serving dish. Sprinkle with crisp bacon and crispy onions and serve hot.
Notes
When frying onions, avoid overcrowding pan with onions as will prevent onions from frying and they will absorb oil and become soggy. Using cornstarch, not flour, gives a crisp light coating to these onions - a trick long used with Asian stir fries! We've also jazzed up the presentation for maybe a dinner party - fry thin, long slices of bacon and wrap bundles of blanched green beans with the bacon - fry til cooked, but not so crisp it will snap (or using green onions). Ladle some of the same mushroom sauce over top bundles and finish with crispy onions and bacon!
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