The best ever green bean casserole

This is the very best version of the classic green bean casserole I have ever tried. The fresh green beans and the toasted onions were the best part. I had a hard time keeping April out of the onions while I made the rest. It may seem like a lot of work, but it is definitely worth it. Thanks Alton Brown on the Food Network.

Best Ever Green Bean Casserole

Topping:
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Nonstick cooking spray

For beans and sauce:
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 pound fresh green beans, rinsed, trimmed and halved
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 ounces mushrooms, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

Combine the onions, flour, panko and salt in a large mixing bowl and toss to combine. Coat a sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray and evenly spread the onions on the pan. Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake until golden brown, approximately 30 minutes. Toss the onions 2 to 3 times during cooking. Once done, remove from the oven and set aside until ready to use. Turn the oven down to 400 degrees F.

While the onions are cooking, prepare the beans. Bring a gallon of water and 2 tablespoons of salt to a boil in an 8-quart saucepan. Add the beans and blanch for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and immediately plunge the beans into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.

Melt the butter in a 12-inch cast iron skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to give up some of their liquid, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and nutmeg and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to combine. Cook for 1 minute. Add the broth and simmer for 1 minute. Decrease the heat to medium-low and add the half-and-half. Cook until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally, approximately 6 to 8 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in 1/4 of the onions and all of the green beans. Top with the remaining onions. Place into the oven and bake until bubbly, approximately 15 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.

Christmas Morning Casserole

For as long as I can remember, every Christmas morning my mom would disappear into the kitchen after opened presents and whip up this tasty casserole. It's perfect because it is easy to make and hearty enough she could feed all of us hungry boys without turning into a short-order cook.

Christmas Morning Casserole

2 Doz Large Eggs

1/3 C Milk

1 1/2 C Stuffing Cubes

1lb Sausage (Italian or Hot adds extra flavor)

1 1/2 C Cheddar Cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 350. Cook the sausage thoroughly. Put all the eggs in a 9x13 cake pan, mix with a fork until well combined. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Dinner in a Pumpkin

My friends wife contributes to a cooking blog and I found this recipe there. The kids thought it was pretty cool to cook dinner in the pumpkin and it turned out really well. I changed the recipe slightly because I can never leave well enough alone.

Dinner in a Pumpkin

1 Medium Pumpkin (or Amber Cup squash)

1 lb Sausage (hot or sage)

1/2 c. chopped celery

1/2 c. chopped onion

1/4 c. chopped green onion

1 tsp. salt

Dash of pepper

2 c. cooked rice

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 c. chopped or sliced mushrooms

1/4 c. roasted pine nuts

2 tbsp brown sugar

2-4 tbsp soy sauce

Brown the sausage then add celery, onions, green onion, salt and pepper and cook until tender. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until well combined. Put the entire casserole into the cleaned out pumpkin and bake at 400 until the pumpkin is tender. Scoop out the casserole, scraping some of the pumpkin with it.

Tweaks: The original recipe called for hamburger, which sounded fine, but the sausage really added some spicyness. We tried this in an Amber Cup squash and a Turban squash too. We preferred the sweetness and smooth texture of the Amber Cup over the Turban squash. Slivered almonds may also be good instead of pine nuts.