Green Bean Casserole

Johnny likes Green Bean Casserole. In the nearly eight years we have been married, I never knew this until a week ago. I don't like Green Bean Casserole, and I guess I just assumed he didn't either since he's never mentioned it before. However, since I was making an entire Thanksgiving dinner for our little family, I had to find a recipe for Green Bean Casserole, but there were certain standards and conditions that needed to be met. First, it had to use fresh green beans. It just did. It's a principles thing - I just couldn't bring myself to make a casserole (even one that I don't care for) using frozen, or even worse, canned green beans. I don't think frozen would be too bad, but since you have to thaw them anyways, fresh green beans are actually less work and better quality, in my opinion. Secondly, Johnny insisted that it had to use the French's Fried Onions that come in a can. Simple enough. First, I turned to All Recipes, and struck out finding one that called for fresh green beans. A quick internet search led me to a recipe from Alton Brown on the Food Network Website, called Best Ever Green Bean Casserole. Now, Alton Brown is my kind of perfectionist cook, akin to America's Test Kitchen, so I figured if he labeled it as "Best Ever", then it must be pretty good. The following recipe has been adapted from that original one. Alton Brown includes a recipe for making your own fried onion topping, but I chose instead to use Johnny's old favorite, French's Fried Onions. Maybe next year, I'll make the homemade ones and see what he thinks. For the main recipe, I left out the mushrooms, and added some bacon bits. I also blanched the green beans the night before, and refrigerated them to make the prep on Thanksgiving Day a little bit faster (and to free up the burners).

Johnny's Green Bean Casserole
(adapted from Alton Brown's Best Ever Green Bean Casserole)

Preheat oven to 375° (which is the same temperature I cook my Stuffing at because they need to be cooking at the same time).

For the Beans and Sauce:
1 lb fresh green beans, trimmed, halved, and blanched*
2 Tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp AP flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half & half
Salt & Pepper, to taste
French's Fried Onions
Bacon Bits (approx. 3 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled)

*To blanch the green beans, fill a pot 2/3's of the way with water, and add 2 Tbsp. salt. Bring to a boil, and then add the beans. Reduce heat to maintain a gentle boil for 5 minutes. Immediately drain beans and put them into ice cold water to stop the cooking. Let sit for a few minutes, and then drain. At this point, you can either refrigerate the beans (which is what I did because I did this step the night before), or you can continue with the recipe.

Melt the butter in a 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, and cook until it's lightly browned, being careful not to burn it. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to combine. Cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken broth, and simmer for 1 minute. Decrease the heat to medium-law, and add the half and half, and salt and pepper. Cook until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally, approximately 6-8 minutes.

Remove from heat, and stir in the green beans, bacon bits, and 1/4-1/2 cup French's Fried Onions. Top with more French's Onions. Bake until bubbly, about 20 minutes.

**Optional homemade "fried" onions:
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup AP flour
2 Tbsp. Panko bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. salt
Nonstick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 475°. Combine the flour, panko, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the onions, and toss to combine. Coat a sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray and evenly spread the onions on the pan. Bake on the middle rack, until the onions are golden brown, approximately 30 minutes. Toss and shake the pan 2 or 3 times during cooking. When the onions are done, set them aside until you are ready for them.