Thanksgiving Dish #3 - Green Bean and Mushroom Casserole

I love green beans. I love casserole, but I didn't want to go the traditional route of the green bean casserole with the canned mushroom soup. There's just something about the canned stuff that I'm not a fan of. So I searched the interweb for a recipe that didn't use the canned stuff. And I found one that was made by Alton Brown (original recipe here). Woohoo... Love Alton Brown. I love Good Eats. It's a fun show and I actually learn quite a bit of stuff about certain ingredients and history about dishes that i wouldn't otherwise have known.

Now I didn't have the crisp onions to put on top and I sort of tried to bake some in the oven, but those turned out burnt to a crisp. Bummer. So I just kinda used it as decoration on top of the casserole, not really much for eating.  So I put some panko crumbs on top instead, which turned out pretty tasty actually. And sauteed the portion of onion that I didn't used into the mushroom brean bean mix. Oh, you can use crushed crackers, too. The original recipe also called for half and half, which I don't have. I'm not much of a coffee drink in my own home. I used evaporated milk instead. The whole thing turned out pretty tasty even with the substitutions. This is a recipe I will be using over and over and over for sure. There's no need to use the canned stuff. Yay!!

Serves 2-3

Green Bean and Mushroom Casserole
Original by Alton Brown
Adapted by Bread + Butter


salt (plus 1 tsp)
1 pound fresh green beans, rinsed, trimmed and halved
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 ounces sliced baby bella mushrooms
1/2 sweet onion - sliced
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 c panko crumbs or crushed cracker


Preheat your oven to 350˚F

Bring a pot water seasoned with salt  to a boil. Add the beans and blanch for 5 minutes. Drain to and immediately soak in cold water. Drain again and set aside.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and onions, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to give up some of their liquid and onions are tender. Add the garlic and nutmeg. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to combine.  Add the broth and simmer for 1 minute. Lower the heat to medium-low and add the evaporated milk. Cook until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally for roughly 6-8 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the green beans and place into a baking dish. Top with the panko crumbs or crushed cracker. Place into the oven and bake until bubbly, roughly 15 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.