My mother loves making delicate, amazing, and delicious cranberry relishes. I don’t like them. I like my cranberries jiggling, oversweetened, and strait from a can.
If you are not a barbarian, there are lots of places online to find amazing fresh cranberry relish recipies. I am not the person to judge, because I’m not making dozens of cranberry relishes that I would then have to EAT so I can tell you which is the easist to make and the tastiest, because… well, I’m a barbarian and I don’t like it.
So, today, if you have a cranberry jelly or relish to make, this is the day for it. Cranberries are nice and acidic and they’ll keep till Thanksgiving.
However, there IS a recipie that I tried that was delicious. You know me and my inability to follow directions creative spirit, and how I love to destroy fiddle with recipes, so I figure I will simply give you the original recipe I’ve been mauling making to try to find shortcuts that work with whatever crap is in my pantry or about to go bad perfect it. I’m going to include it here as well as a link, just in case the site it’s on ever goes down. If you get a chance check out the link, the comments are fantastic.
This is the “World’s Most Convenient Green Bean Casserole” from Kitchen Parade. You can make two- one to eat tonight, and one to freeze for the Big Day. It’s delicious, I like it because I don’t like canned green beans and these are fresh. Here you go, a real recipie with measures, temperatures, times and everything! Don’t get spoiled, now.
MAKE-AHEAD
FRESH GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
Freezing time: overnight – two months
Baking time: 90 minutes
Serves 16 in smallish servings for a big dinner
- SAUCE
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, caps broken into pieces, stems roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 6 cloves garlic, minced (don’t skimp on these)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1-1/2 cups chicken stock or boullion
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1-1/2 cups cream
- 2 tablespoons dry sherry
- Additional kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, if needed
- BEANS
- 2 pounds fresh green beans, stems trimmed, broken into bite-size pieces
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- TOPPING
- 1 cup panko
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 2 cups (about 3 ounces) canned fried onions, chopped
SAUCE In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter on medium heat til melted. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often, until the mushrooms are cooked and the mushroom liquid has evaporated. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for about a minute. Sprinkle the mushrooms with flour and stir in as best you can. A tablespoon at a time, stir in the chicken stock, letting each tablespoon become absorbed before adding another. (This will take several minutes, be patient or you’ll risk a lumpy mess.) Stir in the wine and cream. Bring to a boil. Let simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened, about 15 minutes. Stir in the sherry. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper, if needed. (It should be slightly salty and slightly peppery since the beans themselves are unseasoned.)
BEANS While the sauce cooks, toss the beans and cornstarch well. Transfer to a 9×13 ceramic baking dish. Pour hot mushroom sauce over top. Gently press beans into the sauce so that all the beans are submerged. Cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap, making sure there’s no air between the beans and the plastic. Wrap with foil. Freeze. Do not thaw before baking.
TOPPING No more than a day before, mix the panko, butter, salt and pepper in a skillet. On medium heat, let the crumbs brown, stirring often, being careful not to burn. Stir in the fried onions.
BAKING Preheat oven to 400F. IMPORTANT: remove plastic wrap from casserole, then replace the foil. Bake for 30 minutes, stir, leave the foil off and bake for another 50 minutes. (If the sauce is too thin, leave in oven, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until it thickens.) Spread topping over the casserole, bake for another 10 minutes until golden.
