Wish Upon A Chef

Green bean casserole - the prerequisite for attending Thanksgiving dinner at the Boy Toy household. It’s like the “No shoes, no shirt, no service” sign posted on the door of restaurants and convenience stores. “No green bean casserole, no entry."

But the traditional version of his beloved casserole, which contains a processed can of cream of mushroom soup, goes against my real food policy and since I’m in charge of side dishes this year, I’ve decided to contribute a made-from-scratch version. Will the Boy Toy still love me after I’ve desecrated his favorite dish? Will the other dinner guest choose to go hungry instead of trying something new (as they are sometimes apt to do when my “odd” food is placed before them?)

I know what you’re thinking - it’s just one time per year and I should allow Boy Toy to have this indulgence, right? But here’s the thing – how am I ever going to get him turned on to the idea of “real” food if he isn’t exposed to it? How will he ever know that the homemade version of a favorite dish can be just as good – even better – than the original version? I’m personally striving for an unprocessed Thanksgiving this year, at least with the food items that I contribute and with the foods of others that I consume.

Unprocess your Thanksgiving with this made-from-scratch Green Bean Casserole and give thanks that it’s so delicious! You can prepare the cream of mushroom soup a few days in advance but it is best to prepare the onions just before topping the casserole.

Made-from-Scratch Green Bean Casserole
servings = 6

4 cups green beans, steamed
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon soy sauce
For the cream of mushroom soup:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, diced
1/2 cup mushrooms, diced
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup milk
3/4 cup chicken broth
For the onions:
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 cup milk
1 cup whole wheat flour
Oil or butter for frying

For the soup: Sauté garlic, onion and mushrooms and set aside. Melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Cook for about 2 minutes. Add milk and broth. Add sautéed garlic, onion and mushrooms.

Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until it reaches desired consistency (about 10-15 minutes). Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To assemble the casserole: Combine green beans, ½ cup milk, soy sauce and cream of mushroom soup in a 1-1/2 quart casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until mixture is hot and bubbly. Sprinkle with fried onions. Bake for 5 minutes or until the onions are golden brown.

For the onions: While the casserole is baking, soak onions in milk for 5 minutes. Dredge onions through flour to coat. Heat oil or butter in large skillet and fry onions in batches, stirring as needed to brown evenly. Drain on paper towels and season to taste.

Despite a ridiculously rainy summer, this year's garden bounty was still fairly decent and it's a good thing too, because I put alot of money and effort into revamping my garden space earlier this year. 


The Boy Toy was kind enough to haul my 300 pounds of crap and I nearly chopped off a few appendages and almost destroyed my fence while using my birthday present (thanks Pop!)

Unfortunately, my squash and zucchini never lived to see the light of day thanks to hungry wascally wabbits and some of my tomatoes fell victim to the monsoon conditions, but overall I was still happy with the results.  I was so excited to see these two lovely eggplants and the first order of business was to transform them into one of my all-time favorite dishes:  Eggplant Parmesan.  I'm even more excited that there are more eggplants coming along in the garden and they're slated for this fear inducing Ina Garten recipe.



Always quick and easy to prepare, this dish is also freezer-friendly.  Just prepare it up to the point of baking and pop it into the freezer to be thawed and prepared at a later date. 


Eggplant Parmesan
Serves 6

Printable recipe

1 large eggplant
flour
salt and pepper
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 6-oz can tomato paste
2 16-oz cans diced tomatoes
1 cup water
fresh parsley, chopped
1-1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Combine tomatoes, tomato paste, water, and parsley in a medium sauce pan.  Season with salt and pepper.  Simmer, uncovered, about 1 hour or until thickened, stirring often.

Prepare two plates:  one with flour seasoned with salt and pepper and the other with eggs.  Peel and slice the eggplant into 1/4" thick slices.  Season each slice liberally with flour, shaking off excess.  Dip slices into egg.

Heat oil in large skillet and fry slices a few at a time until golden brown, turning once.  Drain well on paper towels.

Spoon a thin layer of sauce in a baking dish  Arrange half of the eggplant slices, overlapping, over sauce.  Top with more sauce and half of the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.  Repeat layers.

Bake 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted.  

Pleasing a teenager is like predicting the weather.  Temperatures and moods can swing wildly from warm and cheerful to cold and frosty at any given time and with no warning.  Even with the best means of prediction, a raging hormonal storm can take you by surprise when you least expect it. 

I've learned that I can somewhat protect myself from impending Teenage Boy Doom by wielding food when I show up to Boy Toy's house.  So far I've managed to thwart a mood swing with chocolate chip cookies, Country Club Chicken, and this Chicken Cordon Bleu casserole. 

This casserole can be made ahead, which I often do and send home with Boy Toy to have for dinner after those long days spent on the baseball field.  After serving it the first time and having the remaining 2/3rds of the pan fall victim to whomever raids the refrigerator in the middle of the night (hmmm...I wonder?) and a request to prepare it again, I knew I had another storm preparedness item on my hands. 

You can take the quicker and easier route to making this dish by using two cans of cream of chicken (or mushroom or celery) soup instead of making the sauce from scratch but in my effort to steer clear of so many processed foods, I've found that it doesn't take very long to whip up a basic cream sauce and I think spending the few extra minutes is worth it.  I also used brown rice for the base and whole wheat bread crumbs for the topping as a way of sneaking in a few health(ier) ingredients. 

Here's how to prepare yourself for Teenage Boy Doom in six easy steps:

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
adapted from www.tastykitchen.com

Printable Recipe

FOR THE CASSEROLE:
4 cups cooked rice
5-6 cups cooked, diced chicken (rotisserie chicken works great)
1/2 pound deli-style ham, chopped
1/4 pound sliced Swiss cheese
FOR THE SAUCE:
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
3-1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
FOR THE TOPPING:
6 tablespoons butter
1-1/2 cup toasted bread crumbs
3/4 teaspoons seasoned salt
1-1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

Grease a 9x13 baking pan.  Spread cooked rice in the bottom of the dish. Top rice with cooked chicken.  Scatter the ham over top of the chicken.  Lay cheese slices on top of the ham. 

For the sauce:
Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat.  Stir in flour and cook for about 1 minute, but do not brown.  Slowly add milk and whisk constantly until smooth.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens.  Stir in lemon juice, mustard, salt, paprika and pepper.  Bring sauce just back to a low boil and remove from heat.  Pour sauce evenly over casserole, making sure you cover the edges.

For the topping:

Melt butter in the microwave in a microwaveable bowl.  Stir in bread crumbs, seasoned salt and parsley.  Sprinkle over top of casserole.

Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  Casserole will be bubbly and topping should be golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow to cool about about 5 minutes.

When I was a kid, my grandparents would come to our house every Christmas morning to see the mountain of gifts that Santa had brought to me (I was always a very good girl) and my mother would prepare brunch for everyone.  Menu items were usually the same every year and for most things it was the only time of year they appeared on our table, so it became tradition to always have these special items.

One year my mother decided that she wanted to change up the menu and believe me when I say there was mutiny on the bounty!  I revolted.  Huffed.  Puffed.  Whined.  Until she agreed to at least keep most of my favorites (so maybe I wasn't a very good girl all of the time), including this hashbrown casserole which can NEVER. EVER. be removed from the menu. 

Reminiscent of Cracker Barrel's version, this is the warmest, cheesiest, creamiest, most delish thing you will ever put into your mouth.  This year, I was in charge of Christmas brunch with Boy Toy and his family and you know hashbrown casserole was on the menu.  The entire 9x13 dish was scarfed down in the blink of an eye - what you can't see in this photo is someone's hand on the spoon waiting to dig in so I barely got a chance to snap the photo before it disappeared. 

If you are making this for a brunch, you can prepare it the night before and bake it off the morning of, but the best thing is that you don't have to wait until Christmas to try it!

Cheesy Hashbrown Bake
Serves 12

32 oz. frozen shredded hashbrown potatoes, thawed
21-1/2 oz. condensed cream of potato soup (I've also used cream of celery or mushroom)
16 oz. sour cream
16 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup minced dried onion
salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients, stirring well.  Spoon into a greased 13x9 baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 40 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown on top.