Day 49: Creamed Green Beans

Good Thursday everyone! It is snowing at my house, and it looks really pretty. It has covered the brown grass with a thin blanket of white, and made everything look clean again.

I hoped everyone has commented on yesterday's post. Remember to tell me about your best DO dish and you could win a copy of the new 2010 World Championship Cook off Cookbook. It looks like a good one! You only have until 10 pm mountain time tomorrow!

I found today's recipe in a Taste of Home cookbook, and I adapted it to fit our tastes. I love green bean casserole, but I prefer to make it from scratch instead of using creamed soups. When I made this, I had problems with the sauce breaking. I ended up lumpy. That seems to be a theme for me lately. So I followed a link left in a comment by Mark at Mark's Black Pot that explained what that means and how to fix it. You can get there from here. So here is the recipe with the changes to keep is smooth and creamy. I am doing this recipe in stages so I can make it understandable.

Creamed Green Beans

10" dutch oven

1/2 cup butter

flour to make a roux (I used just over 1/2 cup)

Melt the butter in your DO. I used about 12 coals for this. Add the flour a little at a time, stirring well until you have a thick paste. You don't want it too stiff. When I quit stirring, the roux would slowly flatten out on its own. Stir and cook it for just a few minutes, then remove from the DO. This will be used to thicken the sauce for the beans, and can also be kept in the fridge to thicken soups and sauces later.

3 Tbs. butter, divided

1/2 cup crushed cornflakes (I used Ritz crackers)

1 tsp. dried minced onion or 1/4 cup chopped onion

1 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

1 cup sour cream

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

4-6 cups French-style green beans, cooked and drained (I just used canned beans, drained them and put them in)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Melt 1 tbs. butter and mix with the cornflakes; set aside. Melt the remaining 2 Tbs. in your DO. Stir in the onion, sugar, salt and pepper. Cook until the onion is tender. Reduce the heat (I just took away a few coals) and add the sour cream and Worcestershire sauce; stir well and heat through. Now take the roux and add it a little at a time, stirring well until the sour cream/onion mixture is thickened. I used about 1 Tbs. of roux. Fold in the beans and spread in your DO. Sprinkle cheese over the top. Sprinkle with the cornflake mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until heated through. I used 17 coals on top and 8 on the bottom. Serves 6-8.

The Finished Product

See how lumpy the sauce is? Looks gross, huh?

The second try is much creamier

The Review
This is really good. The Worcestershire added a nice flavor. I like this much better than using creamed soup. The second attempt with the recipe above turned out creamier. I did have to add a little milk (a Tablespoon or two) to it after I added the beans because I got it a little too thick. As easy as this is, I won't go back to using the cream soups. This one gets a B+.