Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:
Crispy Onions

• 2 medium yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced (use a mandoline if you have one)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons panko or plain breadcrumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Canola, safflower, peanut or other high-heat oil, for deep-frying

Mushroom Sauce

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 12 oz baby portabella mushrooms, thinly sliced or coarsely chopped
• Few gratings fresh nutmeg (optional)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon table salt
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 lbs fresh green beans trimmed

Directions:

1. 1 to 1 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed and halved
2. Toss onion with flour, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. 
3. Heat a 1/2-inch or so of oil in a 12-inch cast iron skillet. 
4. Fry until a light golden brown. Remove and place on plate with paper towel. Set aside.
5. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
6. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and boil greens for 5 minutes.
7. Drain beans, then plunge them into ice water to full stop them from cooking. Drain again, and set aside
8. Over medium-high heat, melt butter in the bottom of a 12-inch cast iron skillet. 
9. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and saute them until they start releasing their liquid, anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes. 
10. Add the garlic and saute one minute more. Add the flour and stir it until it fully coats the mushrooms. Add the broth, stirring the whole time. 
11. Simmer mixture for 1 minute, then add cream and bring back to a simmer, cooking until the sauce thickens. Stir frequently.
12. Add cooked greens beans to sauce and stir until they are coated. Sprinkle crispy onions over the top. Bake for 15 minutes, or until sauce is bubbling and onions are a shade darker 

Sweet Potato Casserole

(I tried to get a good picture, but I turned around for a second and someone had already swiped some!)

This is honestly the best sweet potato casserole I've ever had. I think you could actually classify this as a desert. This isn't your ordinary throw-marshmellows-on-top casserole, this one has class.

Ingredients:
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes (wash, don't pierce, place on a cookie sheet and bake at 425 degrees for about an hour. If they are soft at that point, cook for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. The pulp should be shrinking away from the outer skin and sugar should be leaking through)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs well beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk (as always whole is best)
pinch of salt

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar firmly packed
1/4 cup flour
2 1/2 tbsp melted butter
1/2 cup shopped pecans

Directions:

1. Blend all ingredients together.
2. Pout into casserole dish that has been greased.
3. Crumble topping on.
4. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.
5. Enjoy!

Chicken and Swiss Cheese Casserole

When Ben was growing up, I made a lot of chicken and rice dishes. A lot. So when he hit his teen years, he basically refused to eat them anymore. Now that he’s an adult, he's come to love those dishes and has even asked for a few of the recipes, including this one.

A few words before I get to the recipe: You can make your rice on the stove if you prefer, but I live in a “garden” apartment (that’s basement to the rest of the world) and I don’t need any more humidity in the house. So I use my rice steamer outside on the patio. That means my rice doesn’t get cooked with the herbs and onions in it, but it turns out just fine anyway. If you want to know the full, make it on the stove and then put it in the oven version, let me know in the comments.

Ingredients:

Casserole
2 T butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, either minced or put through a garlic press
3 C cooked rice (I use brown rice)
1/8 C sherry or white wine (not cooking wine) or vermouth
Water or broth to deglaze the pan
1 bay leaf
2 t dried thyme or about 1 t fresh
1 ½ C cooked, diced chicken
6 to 8 ounces shredded Swiss cheese

Topping
2 T butter
1 T flour
1/3 C milk
Paprika to sprinkle

Directions:

Casserole

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Melt the butter in a large heavy skillet.
3. Sauté the onion and garlic in the butter until the onion is clear.
4. Add the sherry or white wine or vermouth and enough water or broth to deglaze the pan.
5. Add the diced chicken and heat thoroughly.
6. Quickly combine the chicken mixture, cooked rice and Swiss cheese and put into a large greased casserole pan.

Topping

1. Melt the butter in a small pan over low heat.
2. Stir in the flour ensuring you have no lumps.
3. Slowly add the milk and stir constantly until thickened.
4. Pour over the casserole and sprinkle the top with paprika.
5. Cover and bake about 20 minutes.

I made this last night and fed four adults and two children. I foolishly thought we would have leftovers today. I was wrong.