Green bean casserole has become my favorite food at Thanksgiving dinner and one of my favorite dishes ever. My family has started serving it with Christmas dinner, Easter dinner, and birthday dinners because there are a couple of us who just love it so much!
Cream of mushroom soup was one of the first soups I learned to make when I started culinary school. It was delicious! I was surprised by how little cream we used in the soup. You actually get the creamy color from the addition of flour early on in the cooking process. You get the creamy consistency partly from pureeing the food, and partly because of the flour. The cream is the last thing you add, so the amount can be altered or left out depending on your preference.
My recipe is a little different than the one we made at school only because I have limited supplies and equipment. So I will tell you what I did, and how it differed from the recipe we learned at school.
What you'll need:
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped (~2/3 cup)
- 1/2 cup chopped leek
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 (8oz) container white button mushrooms
- 1/2 (8oz) container Shitake mushrooms
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 - 2 1/2 cups beef stock
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried chives
- 1 tsp ground pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup heavy cream
What to do:
1. Heat oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat; add onion, leek, and garlic and stir. Be careful not to color or burn this mixture.
2. While the onion mixture is cooking, prepare the mushrooms. Remove the stems and discard. Use a damp paper towel to clean the top and bottom of the mushrooms. Never rinse mushrooms because they will get soggy. Then chop them up. When the onions are translucent, add the mushrooms and stir for ~3 minutes.
3. Add the flour and stir it into the mushrooms mixture completely. Remove from heat and let cool for ~ 5 minutes. While this is cool, heat the stock on the stove. When the mushroom mixture has cooled slightly and the stock is hot, slowly pour the stock into the mushroom pan while stirring continuously. Add seasonings.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer 15 - 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Add heavy cream and stir. Taste and adjust seasonings. Use an immersion blender, blender, or Cuisinart to blend the soup until it is fully pureed. (I do not have any of those in Dubai, so my recipe is more chunky than pureed). Pass the mixture through a strainer into a casserole dish.
What you'll need:
- Emily's mushroom soup
-2 (12oz) cans green beans, drained and rinsed (fresh can be used but in Dubai the fresh green beans are terrible!)
-1/2 cup onion slices
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
What to do:
1. Make the mushroom soup recipe
2. Heat the oil in a very small sauce pan so that oil reaches ~ 1/2 inch high on the wall of the pan (use more oil if necessary). Wait until this oil is very very hot. Test the oil by adding in 1 slice of onion. If it does not immediately sizzle, then the oil is not hot enough.
3. When the oil is hot enough, add in the onion slices and fry until golden brown. When done, remove from oil and lay on a paper towel.
4. Mix the green beans with the mushroom soup in the casserole dish. Top with fried onions. Recipe makes 5 servings.
How this is different from the recipe in my school book: 1- they used butter instead of olive oil to cook the onion and leek; 2- they also cooked celery with the onion and leek; 3- they did not use garlic; 4- instead of all the spices I listed, they use a 'bouquet garni' which is thyme, bay leaf, pepper, and parsley sprigs wrapped in a leak leaf and soaked in the mixture and removed before pureeing. Both recipes were delicious and easy to make, so take your pick.
Nutrition remarks:
When making this recipe with canned cream of mushroom soup, the sodium content is much higher as well as the saturated fat content. Adding the fried onions also does not help. My recipe, even with the cream, is much lower in saturated fat and sodium compared to the Campbell's recipe. I didn't bother trying to make a large amount of fried onions because they were not very likely to come out the way they are supposed to. But the recipe was so delicious without it. So the recipe I made is fairly healthy, especially when you leave out the cream. This recipe would also be a good alternative to the Campbells recipe because it is on the healthier side, but not too far from the original product.
Cream of mushroom soup was one of the first soups I learned to make when I started culinary school. It was delicious! I was surprised by how little cream we used in the soup. You actually get the creamy color from the addition of flour early on in the cooking process. You get the creamy consistency partly from pureeing the food, and partly because of the flour. The cream is the last thing you add, so the amount can be altered or left out depending on your preference.
My recipe is a little different than the one we made at school only because I have limited supplies and equipment. So I will tell you what I did, and how it differed from the recipe we learned at school.
Cream of Mushroom Soup
What you'll need:
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped (~2/3 cup)
- 1/2 cup chopped leek
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 (8oz) container white button mushrooms
- 1/2 (8oz) container Shitake mushrooms
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 - 2 1/2 cups beef stock
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried chives
- 1 tsp ground pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup heavy cream
What to do:
1. Heat oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat; add onion, leek, and garlic and stir. Be careful not to color or burn this mixture.
2. While the onion mixture is cooking, prepare the mushrooms. Remove the stems and discard. Use a damp paper towel to clean the top and bottom of the mushrooms. Never rinse mushrooms because they will get soggy. Then chop them up. When the onions are translucent, add the mushrooms and stir for ~3 minutes.
3. Add the flour and stir it into the mushrooms mixture completely. Remove from heat and let cool for ~ 5 minutes. While this is cool, heat the stock on the stove. When the mushroom mixture has cooled slightly and the stock is hot, slowly pour the stock into the mushroom pan while stirring continuously. Add seasonings.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer 15 - 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Add heavy cream and stir. Taste and adjust seasonings. Use an immersion blender, blender, or Cuisinart to blend the soup until it is fully pureed. (I do not have any of those in Dubai, so my recipe is more chunky than pureed). Pass the mixture through a strainer into a casserole dish.
Green Bean Casserole
What you'll need:
- Emily's mushroom soup
-2 (12oz) cans green beans, drained and rinsed (fresh can be used but in Dubai the fresh green beans are terrible!)
-1/2 cup onion slices
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
What to do:
1. Make the mushroom soup recipe
2. Heat the oil in a very small sauce pan so that oil reaches ~ 1/2 inch high on the wall of the pan (use more oil if necessary). Wait until this oil is very very hot. Test the oil by adding in 1 slice of onion. If it does not immediately sizzle, then the oil is not hot enough.
3. When the oil is hot enough, add in the onion slices and fry until golden brown. When done, remove from oil and lay on a paper towel.
4. Mix the green beans with the mushroom soup in the casserole dish. Top with fried onions. Recipe makes 5 servings.
How this is different from the recipe in my school book: 1- they used butter instead of olive oil to cook the onion and leek; 2- they also cooked celery with the onion and leek; 3- they did not use garlic; 4- instead of all the spices I listed, they use a 'bouquet garni' which is thyme, bay leaf, pepper, and parsley sprigs wrapped in a leak leaf and soaked in the mixture and removed before pureeing. Both recipes were delicious and easy to make, so take your pick.
Nutrition remarks:
When making this recipe with canned cream of mushroom soup, the sodium content is much higher as well as the saturated fat content. Adding the fried onions also does not help. My recipe, even with the cream, is much lower in saturated fat and sodium compared to the Campbell's recipe. I didn't bother trying to make a large amount of fried onions because they were not very likely to come out the way they are supposed to. But the recipe was so delicious without it. So the recipe I made is fairly healthy, especially when you leave out the cream. This recipe would also be a good alternative to the Campbells recipe because it is on the healthier side, but not too far from the original product.
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