It's not easy being green bean casserole

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Ingredients

  • For the Fried Onion Pieces:
  • 1 tablespoon EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 6 tablespoons butter, divided
  • 1 pound white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 2 shallots, finely chopped
  • 3 to 4 cloves garlic, chopped or grated
  • 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 2 1/2 to 3 pounds French-cut green beans
  • 4 tablespoons flour
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 2 cups heavy cream or half-and-half
  • 1 wheel of Boursin cheese
  • 1 1/2 cups fried onion pieces, homemade or store-bought
  • Vegetable oil, for frying
  • 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup flour
  • Kosher Salt
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 1 tablespoon paprika

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with 1 turn of the pan of EVOO and 4 tablespoons of butter. Once hot, add the mushrooms and cook, stirring every now and then until brown, about 5 minutes. Add the shallots, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Continue to cook until the shallots start to get tender, about 4-5 minutes.

While the mushrooms and shallots cook, place the green beans in another skillet. Add an inch or two of water, salt it and bring to a boil. Cook the beans for 2-3 minutes, drain and shock in ice water.

When all the vegetables are tender, sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms and shallots. Cook about 1 minute then stir in the white wine and chicken stock, and reduce by half. Add the heavy cream and melt the Boursin cheese in the sauce, about 1 minute.

Add green beans to the skillet and combine. Pour into a medium-size casserole dish and top with onions.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until bubbly and brown.

For the Fried Onion Pieces:
Heat vegetable oil in a pot to 350°F.

Soak onion slices in buttermilk and drain. Season flour with salt, pepper and paprika. Dredge onion slices in flour mixture. Fry in hot oil until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes.

Serve on top of green bean casserole.