The Green Bean: Old vs. New

Before you go downloading or purchasing the latest and greatest recipe for the staple green bean dish on your Thanksgiving table, make sure your effort and time are worth putting it together.

Two years ago, I found a fabulous green bean recipe that I thought for sure would “wow” my family and guests.  It probably had about 20 ingredients and took up a good portion of my time, but I was sure it would be worth the effort.  At dinner, there were at least three, “where’s-the-green-bean-casserole” questions.  Everyone ate this  new elegant dish, but at the end of the night here’s what my husband had to say about my hard work, “your green beans were good, but I miss the old-fashioned green bean casserole”.  The classic takes about 20 minutes to make and this new recipe took me about 1 hour to make, not to mention the extra chafing dishes to clean.  You can probably guess which one I prepared the next year.  And for this year, I’ve come up with a much simpler contemporary green bean recipe, below, which will make it’s debut on my table here in a few days.  I will also be making the classic casserole version; we’ll see which one prevails at the dinner table.

Steamed Green Beans with Mushroom White Wine Shallot Sauce

Ingredients for Mushroom White Wine Sauce:

• Butter-1/2 cup (1 stick or 8 tbspns)
• Sliced mushrooms- 1 bag
• Shallots- 2, peeled and minced
• Flour- 3 tbspns
• White Cooking Wine or White Wine, like Chardonnay- 1/2 cup
• Chicken broth- 1 cup
• Heavy cream- 1 cup

Directions:

1. Melt butter in skillet over medium-high heat
2. Add shallots and mushrooms; saute until tender, approximately 3 minutes
3. Add flour and saute for 1 more minute
4. Deglaze pan with wine (or broth) and simmer for a few minutes until wine is reduced, approximately 3 minutes
5. Add broth and cream; bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes

Store in airtight container until Thanksgiving Day to pour over steamed fresh green beans.

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