In Defense of a Better Green Bean Casserole

Posted on 27 December 2007 under Food In The News, Holidays, Projects

Over at the Toledo Blade, Mary Alice Powell has posted a column titled “Fruitcake Fan Won’t Back Down“. While expounding on the qualities of a good Claxton fruitcake (something I myself enjoy), she also, like, totally disses Grean Bean Casserole. Yeah I know, regardless of what the current TV ads show, pine trees do not like green bean casserole … While I do agree with some of what Ms. Powell wrote on the subject, I did feel it necessary to send her the following:

You wrote, “the green bean casserole, a combination of three canned commercial products, is an embarrassment to American culinary ingenuity and taste.” Ah yes, that could easily be said. But as with fruitcake, some of which is like eating a brick off a one-room schoolhouse, you don’t have to follow what’s generally accepted when making it. While the “classic” dish is, as a result of the TV dinner culture, a “peasant dish”, it’s definitely possible to upgrade the beast ala Ratatouille, i.e. both the movie and its Thomas Keller version of the dish.

For example, clean some fresh green beans and break them in half. Clean and slice a few shallots, and wash and slice some mushrooms. Make a bechamel sauce and add, say, a bit of fresh shredded Meunster and some salt and pepper to taste. Coat the shallots in a corn meal batter and deep fry them till golden brown. At the same time, sauté the beans and mushroom slices in some olive oil with some minced garlic. To serve, the beans and mushrooms go on the plate, topped with the sauce and garnished with the fried shallots.

No, I don’t have a photo. Looks as though I’ll have to make some of this to prove its worth.

A weekend project? Sure seems that way. I wonder what Dorcas Reilly would think?

Read Comments

  1. 27 December 2007 @ 7:33 pm Posted by JEP

    You are priceless:) Stopping by your blog totally makes my day—thanks! Let us know how the weekend project turns out!

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