World's Best Green Bean Casserole Recipe

How to make it

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• PREP, COOK, DRAIN & DRY the GREEN BEANS
• If doubling or tripling the recipe means cooking the beans in batches, start each batch with fresh water; at minimum, re-salt the water with each new batch. Also, don't skip the drying process.
• Bring the water to boil in a large pot or Dutch oven. While it comes to a boil, prep the beans. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Add the salt and beans to the boiling water. Cover and cook for 6 minutes or until crisp-tender and still bright green. (Be sure to cook the beans to your desired level of doneness; from here on, they will reheat but won't cook more.) Drain beans in a colander, then plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain a bit in the colander again. Place a double layer of paper towels on a baking sheet, arrange beans in single layer to dry, top with a double layer of towels and pat to dry. Let continue to dry while finishing.
• ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
• Salt is key to the flavor so don't skimp. If you don't have table salt, use twice as much as the relatively less salty kosher salt or sea salt.
• COOK the MUSHROOMS & MAKE the SAUCE
• If this looks a lot like a thick, homemade mushroom soup, that's because it is!
• Clean the mushrooms; break off and discard the stems. Break the mushroom tops into pieces. Melt the butter in a skillet til shimmery. Add the mushrooms, garlic, salt and pepper. Stirring often, cook til mushrooms begin to soften and exude their liquid, about 6 minutes. Stir in flour and cook a minute. A tablespoon at a time at first, add the chicken stock and sherry; bring to a simmer. Add the half & half, simmer til sauce thickens, about 10 - 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Stir in the cooked beans til they're evenly distributed throughout the sauce.
• ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
• To save a dish, I always use the same pot to cook the beans and the mushrooms.
• I like the color of the brown portabella but taste-wise, they're the same as white button mushrooms.
• If you like, use the stems to make a night-before-Thanksgiving mushroom soup.
• Breaking the mushroom tops into irregular pieces is important to the texture of this sauce. Why? It's turns out that sliced mushrooms have a "canned soup" texture. I use this technique in other recipes too, it's a game changer!
• Do not substitute fat-free half-n-half for the cream or the half 'n' half, it has no thickening properties so the sauce will stay way too thin, no matter how long you cook it.
• MIX the TOPPING
• Step-by-Step Photos: How to Mix the Topping and Bake
• Note: The quantity below is "half" that used by the inspiring recipe from Cook's Illustrated; the full amount seemed way over the top to me. Half is plenty and hardly skimpy for the shallow quiche dish I use to bake this in. I use the quantity below even when doubling the beans and the mushroom sauce; how much is needed seems to be a function of the size of the serving dish; "half" is perfect for that shallow quiche dish.
• In the food processor, process the bread, butter and seasonings in about 10 quick pulses. Stir in the onions but don't process them. If making ahead, transfer to a storage container and refrigerate.
• ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
• I use this Light 'n' Fluffy Homemade Whole Grain Bread but any good whole-grain bread will work.
• BAKE
• TO BAKE RIGHT AWAY Preheat oven to 425F/220C. Transfer hot bean mixture to a greased quiche pan or baking dish. Top the beans with the topping mixture and bake uncovered for 15 minutes.
• TO BAKE LATER Transfer bean mixture to a greased quiche pan or baking dish (hold off on the topping mixture), cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Return to room temperature. Remove plastic wrap. Heat in 425F/220C oven uncovered for about 10 - 40 minutes until hot and bubbly. (Ten minutes is enough for a shallow dish like a quiche pan. Allow more time for a deeper dish.) Add topping and bake for another 15 minutes.
• NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving: 138 Calories; 9 g Tot Fat; 5 g Sat Fat; 12 g Carb; 3 g Fiber; NetCarb8; 218 mg Sodium; 16 mg Cholesterol; 4 g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS Old Points 3 & PointsPlus 4
• MORE TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
• FROZEN BEANS What about frozen green beans? In 2007, I had no choice but to make this with frozen whole (not Frenched) beans and they worked just fine. You can can skip the ice water step but I do recommend the drying process. Still, fresh beans are much preferred.
• PRE-CUT BEANS What about bags of precut (supposedly) fresh beans? These never look that fresh, need to retrimmed anyway, and pound for pound are so expensive. It takes just a few minutes to snap the beans.
• CONSIDER AT LEAST A DOUBLE BATCH I nearly always make a double batch, using two pounds of green beans. This fills a shallow quiche pan that's my standard serving dish (what's pictured) that holds about five cups liquid.
• TIMING for DOUBLE & TRIPLE BATCHES For larger gatherings, I've doubled and tripled this recipe. The prep is easy enough but the timing changes since it takes longer to bring the casserole to room temperature (allow 3 hours for a triple batch) and longer to heat it through (allow at least 30 - 40 minutes for a triple batch, especially one prepped in advance or not quite at room temperature).
• TOPPING SUBSTITUTES I really like the topping from the original Cook's Illustrated recipe but know that not everyone can bear the idea of canned fried onions. A suitable substitute is 3/4 cups whole-grain fresh bread crumbs browned a bit in 1 tablespoon butter and seasoned generously with salt and especially pepper. Another suggestion comes from Elizabeth: "We sautéed onions in oil until they are beginning to colour and then add flour to crisp them up. They are easily as good tasting (if not better) than canned onions and WAY better for us. Because who knows how many nightmares of chemicals and preservatives are in canned onions?" If it were me, I would still toss Elizabeth's onions with good bread crumbs and plenty of salt and especially pepper. I've also had great luck with the fried onions from Trader Joe's, no ugly ingredients.
• VEGAN GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE My friend Susan from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen veganized the World's Best Green Bean Casserole and reports, "... my gosh, it is good! Truly, we were scraping the little casserole dish clean."