25 November

Scott’s No-Canned-Cream-of-Mushroom-Soup Green Bean Casserole

Over on Threads I offered to share this if anyone wanted me to, and someone took me up on it. It’s too long to put in a Threads post though, so I’m posting it here.

This isn’t a recipe website, and I hate it when those sites start recipe posts with 5,000 word essays, so I’ll just get into it. The title says it all anyway.

As I noted on Threads, I’m winging it these days, so the ratios might be slightly off. (Specifically, I’m not sure I used 3 pounds of beans… it was just a big bag at the supermarket.)

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3 lb fresh green beans, ends trimmed
  • 8 oz fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
  • 1 medium-large onion, thinly sliced in half rings
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 4 Tbsp butter
  • 4 Tbsp flour
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 cup milk or cream
  • About 1 cup crushed potato chips (or panko; I used chips this year because I forgot to get panko, and it was good)
  • Salt, pepper & seasoning blend to taste (I like Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute)

PREPARATION:

  1. Blanch the beans for 5-6 minutes in boiling, heavily salted water. Drain and shock with cold water, drain thoroughly and set aside.
  2. In a small skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add sliced onion and a generous amount of seasoning and cook (stirring occasionally) until soft and just starting to brown at the edges. Set onions aside on a paper towel to drain.
  3. In a 12″ skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and cook (stirring occasionally) until soft and liquid is released. Add white wine and cook down for another 2-3 minutes.
  4. Add flour and some of the seasonings and whisk until flour is thoroughly blended in, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
  5. Add broth about 1/4 cup at a time and whisk gently until completely absorbed and smooth before adding more. (Trick to a smooth gravy/roux/white sauce!)
  6. After all broth is added, stir in the milk and continue whisking as sauce thickens for 5-8 minutes. Taste and season as needed.
  7. Remove from heat and stir in beans. Transfer the mixture to a 13×9 casserole.
  8. In a small bowl, toss cooked onions and crushed potato chips (or panko). Sprinkle evenly over top of casserole.
  9. Bake uncovered at 375°F (190ºC) for 30-40 minutes or until bubbling and top is golden brown.

Separated at birth: Mario Batali and Comic Book Guy

Well, maybe not quite, since Comic Book Guy is a cartoon character. But when I saw a picture of Mario Batali today on The Daily Beast, it suddenly — and I’m sad to say it took so long — occurred to me that he bears a striking resemblance to Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons. Clearly, and as usual, I am not the first to notice:

While it’s disappointing to be reminded once again that I never have an original thought, it was great to discover yet another way to waste a ridiculous amount of time online.

I’m surprised at some of the comments on this comparison, though I suspect people may be channeling their inner overweight, ponytailed, comic-book-obsessed cynic. One comment, though, captured my thoughts exactly:

Facially they don’t look the same (it would be REALLY unfortunate for someone to actually look just like a Matt Groening character…) but between the ponytail, scraggly facial hair and the fact that they both break a sweat when they fart, I think this one is spot on.