re: Green Bean Casserole

I teach my students how to make one from scratch. First step is making a Mushroom Béchamel. You could make a velouté instead. Just sub in 1qt of chicken stock and 2 cups of heavy cream for the milk and omit the other ingredients.

Ingredients:
3oz Butter
3oz Flour
Directions:
Make a white roux.

Ingredients:
1.5qt Milk
1-2 Garlic cloves
2-3 Cloves
1/4 Onion
1 Bay leaf
A couple grates of nutmeg
Directions:
Make a Béchamel. Infuse milk with garlic, clove, onion, & bay leaf. Add roux and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook 5-8 minutes. Add fresh grated nutmeg and reserve.

Ingredients:
#1 Sautéed Mushrooms
8oz Parmesan
1T Salt
1/2t White Pepper
Directions:
Sauté mushrooms in butter and garlic, season with salt and pepper. Grate cheese, and add to the Béchamel. You can add a dash or two of Worcestershire sauce if you prefer. Reserve sauce.

Next is the preparation of the green beans. We use fresh green beans but canned or frozen can be substituted.

Ingredients:
#2 Green beans
8qts water
1/2cup salt
Ice bath:
4qt ice
2qt water
Directions:
Bring water to a rolling boil. Add salt and blanch green beans #1 at a time for 45 seconds each batch. Plunge immediately into ice bath to halt cooking. Allow water to return to a boil before blanching next batch.

For the fried onions, I use a spiral slicer and fried chicken dredge but nothing beats the canned fried onions.

To assemble casserole, mix green beans, mushroom sauce, and fried onions together and place in a 1/2 aluminum steam table pan. Top with more fried onions and bake @350°F 25 to a 35 minutes.