Sophisticated Holiday Green Bean Casserole by Mary Bogue
By: Mary Bogue
Published: Monday, December 14, 2009 - 9:58pm

Ingredients




2 pounds Green Beans Fresh, ends trimmed
1 cup Sour Cream
1 large Sweet Onion (like a Vidalia)
1 package Mushrooms (baby portabellos work great)
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/8 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Sugar
1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 teaspoon Thyme
1 cup Italian Bread Crumbs

Preparation

1 Preheat oven to 350. (Easy to cook this while turkey is cooling - if you're prepped early) 
Slice onion into thin rings and set aside.
 2 Rinse the beans with cool water. Trim the ends, and snap into 1-1/2" pieces. 

Prepare an ice bath into which to blanch the cooking beans to retain their bright color.

Saute beans in a little oil or non-stick spray for about 5 minutes.and then plunge them in the ice water. When cool, drain off the ice and water. 3 While the beans are cooking, coat a large nonstick skillet with non-stick cooking spray, and preheat over medium heat. Add the onions, thyme, salt and pepper and saute for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are wilted and are just starting to brown. (If the skillet becomes too dry, add a few teaspoons of water as needed.) Add the sugar and saute for another minutes. Remove from heat and empty into bowl. 4 Dry brush the mushrooms and chop them, add them to the skillet you just had with a pat of butter and cook until slightly softened and browned. 
When finished, mix them and the juices with the sour cream. Mix well. 
 5 Spray or oil your baking dish or casserole dish, and add beans.
Pour mushroom and sour cream mixture on top.
Finish with layer of onions. 
Add bread crumbs and put into oven.
Cook for 30 minutes or so.

About


I like to prep this job the day before and put all the ingredients in Ziplocs. Then cook as I go. Woosh. Done! You're a genius...and you didn't cop out with that trailer-trash recipe of beans with canned mushroom soup and fried onions from a can. Nah, you're gourmet cooking now! I'm so proud of you.