I Can't Believe I Have Been Asked to Make a Green Bean Casserole

I guess my question to you is, is it really that big a deal? You don't have to like it or eat it. You have family members who really want to enjoy green bean casserole. Why not let them?

You could always make both. You could make a green bean casserole and make some roasted veggies. Who knows? You might even convince some of the family to try it.

I think by not making it, you'll just upset people or appear judgmental.

Jennifer got it just exactly right - give the people what they want - this isn't about you. I couldn't add anything at all to her excellent response.

I freakin love it. I'll eat a whole pan of it. It's the only canned, preservative-laden dish I like and I'm not afraid to shout it from the rooftops.

P.S.- the fresh made from scratch version is delish too ;o)

Be a gracious guest, not a snob. Bring the classic for those looking forward to it and make something else of your choice. Not a big deal.

Too good for GBC, eh? Lol
Seriously, when a hostess asks you to bring something that specific and you don't? Rude.
Good luck pulling this off!

Honesty if you are not going to make it the traditional way then I would tell the host that and let her know that you are bringing something different. I would be very disappointed if I was expecting a good old fashion GBC and got some gross simulation because the maker had an issue with the food. Let her know you don't like GBC so she can get a lover to make it. It just isn't a holiday feast without a wonderful GBC, mushroom soup and all!

JB-

I feel your pain! My kids, I am ashamed to say, not only EXPECT the GBC (just the way gramma made it)...but they also request...dare I say it? The yams with marsh mellows...

I have raised gourmands and not gourmets I fear.

I make them...and we laugh, cry, tell stories... and remember!

***I also DO make roasted root veggies in a balsamic reduction...yum!***

Maybe do a little of each!

I had never even tried GBC until two years ago. It looked awful. But my MIL made it with fancy frozen green beans, non-Campbell's cream of mushroom (it was in a glass jar), and French's onions and crunchy bacon on the top. It was really good. She also used a lot less sauce than I'd seen previously, and I think that made a big difference.

I'd make it, but I'd do so like my MIL instead of the traditional, mushy canned beans variety. Blech.

I also despise the three can green bean casserole. I try not to use any cans except for the occasional canned San Marzano tomatoes or a can of tuna. But we do like a green bean casserole sometimes, so I make my own. It's pretty easy.

I've tried a lot of the alternative green bean casserole recipes out there, and to be honest, some just go too far. Sure, they have green beans, but the end result is barely recognizable as a green bean casserole, and those expecting a GBC wouldn't be too happy.

So here's what I do. First, I buy Haricots Verts. They're green beans but longer and more tender. I simply steam them (or you could roast them) until they're as tender as I want them to be. I cut them after they're tender to a basic bite-size length. Set them aside. I also think that if you had to (for time or money's sake), using canned green beans wouldn't be the worst thing, especially if there is not another ingredient like sugar in the can, and if you used a good quality bean, not just a supermarket generic thing. This is the one ingredient I would allow to be from a can, if it was necessary. (It's surprising how many canned vegetables have sugar added, like canned peas!)

Then I make a homemade cream of mushroom soup. First, saute the mushrooms. Get baby portabella, or cremini, mushrooms, or white button mushrooms if you prefer, a couple of cups worth (they'll shrink down). Do not cut them or slice them. Saute them whole in a small amount of butter and olive oil until they're golden and tender. If you slice or cut mushrooms before sauteeing them, you will lose a lot of their moisture. After they're tender, chop them into bite-size or smaller pieces. Smaller pieces will more closely resemble the mushrooms in the canned soup. Then make a basic white sauce. About a half cup of butter or oil, melted, combined with an equal amount of flour, cook for several minutes until the flour is completely combined, then stir in about 4 cups of milk, stir until thick and creamy. Then add in all the mushrooms and stir gently to combine. The sauce should not be too thick, as a lot of it will be absorbed into the onions and beans. Set this aside.

Next, the onions. Get a couple of large sweet onions (or plain white onions). Peel them, and slice them as thinly as possible. I usually don't use whole rings, but I slice the onions in half and then slice them, so I end up with half-moon shapes. Soak the onions in buttermilk for an hour or so. Drain them. Into a big pan, like a cake pan, put a couple of cups of flour, and season it with some salt and pepper. Separate the onion half-rings with your hands, and place them into the flour. Make sure they're well coated. At this point, I don't fry them, just to keep them a little lighter. The secret to baking them is to use a large sheet pan, don't crowd the onions too much, and just drizzle them with a little oil. Toss them around on the pan so they all have a touch of oil on them and bake at about 400 degrees until they begin to get crunchy and brown. Toss occasionally so they cook evenly. Of course, you could fry them. They'll brown nicely if they're not crowded, so you might need to do them in batches. Separating them so they're not clumped is really important.

Then I just make the casserole like the traditional recipe directs, using some soy sauce (I use the Tamari gluten free soy sauce) or a little Worcestershire sauce, assembling it in the usual way. It's just that all the ingredients are homemade. And it looks like the canned one, but it has so much fresh taste and so far, everyone loves it! It doesn't stray from the traditional canned method, just every ingredient is vastly improved and you know exactly what's in it! Nothing fake!

My sister makes it every Thanksgiving from scratch, no cans.
It's a basic white sauce, adding in fresh mushrooms if you like. Use fresh green beans and carmelize real onions. Just look up Classic white sauce and use that instead. I think you need to blanche the green beans first.

It's close enough, anyone who likes Classic GBC will like it. Might secretly prefer the classic, but won't be offended and will probably be impressed by the effort.

I use a bechamel (butter, flour, grated garlic, grated onion, salt, pepper, pinch grated nutmeg, hot cream/milk) to which I add an egg after it's cooled a little. I blanch the beans in saltwater for about 2 minutes. Whole business dumped in a casserole, 350 degrees, about a half hour or so.

Fry the onions while the thing is in the oven, takes about 3 mins in the cast iron with an inch of really hot veg oil.

I sprinkle the top with chopped crisp bacon in addition to the onions, cuz I can.

:)

I think it's rude for the hostess to ask you to prepare such a specific dish. She might say "can you bring a vegetable side dish, preferably something with green beans" but to ask for an exact recipe is totally rude IMO.

I think it's weird people think you're the rude one.

If it's that important she should make that dish herself and give other more general requests to her guests. I too find that traditional GB casserole repulsive, haven't seen it served in many years, blech.

Did you have a bad experience with GBC or something?

I have only seen this sort of riled up response when someone had something bad happen and that dish was part of the scenario. And I have planned a lot of Thanksgiving dinners, and what I've learned is that there are certain dishes that everyone just expects to be on the Thanksgiving table, and it differs depending upon culture / familiar backgrounds. And GBC is definitely an expected dish.

But, I'm still with you, I don't care for the GBC my grandmother used to make with canned everything. The dish looks like baby poop when it's taken out of the oven.

I still make it for holiday meals, but use fresh or frozen green beans, fresh mushrooms, fried onions from the Persian Market, and I love any recipe that adds a big dash of soy sauce for flavor.

Well - she asked. She didn't demand it, or tell you "Don't come without this casserole in your mitts!" -- did she? If she's a friend, good grief, just say with a smile, "Hey, I've never made one and I don't want to mess up other folks' idea of a classic. How about I bring rolls/drinks" or something else that doesn't require the vast fuss of alfredo sauces and fresh green beans that may or may not be good at the local market that day?....

She might know perfectly well that most of the guests aren't going to eat your roasted vegetables and is trying to save you from embarrassment if your contribution sits there uneaten, when she knows for sure the guests will eat the casserole she suggested. But don't make something you are this worked up about hating, Really. Don't lecture her about how awful it is either, or turn up your nose if someone else ends up bringing it. I get that you hate it, but how about just asking her if you can bring something else simple -- not roast veggies, obviously that doesn't work for her guests -- and leave it at that?

Isn't the event about the social side and not how awful canned soup is?

Oh, I so totally agree. Ew!!!!

And you can't say it would be a gross imitation of food when the "original" is nothing but a goopy vat of chemicals processed to resemble food...

I hate GBC too. I see that you have a good answer so I will just empathize. At hubbys family chrsitmas one year I was asked to bring the deviled eggs. YUCK! I hate them. I told them I would make them if they wanted me to but because I dont like them I would not be invested in making them taste good. I was asked to make a dip instead. Crisis averted.

I could not agree with you more. GBC totally grosses me out. What a shame to do that to fresh, beautiful green beans.

Does the person who assigned you this task know you despise GBC? If so, bring green beans anyway you like. Otherwise, I'd try to figure out how to do a better GBC.

Good luck!

I have the exact same disdain for GBC! I hate cream of anything, hate mushroom and hate canned vegetables - so GBC is the trifecta of yuck to me ;) Glad to see I'm not alone!

It is so disgusting! My stomach gets queasy just looking at it. Blah! There should be no casseroles ever! All that food mixed together, blah!

Now did you offer to bring the roasted veggies first, and then the host answered with no..bring the GBC?

If so, then that is pretty rude of her.

But if she asked you first and you said yes, I think you either should've said no, I will bring this or follow through and bring what the host asked.

I like steamed green beans sprinkled with Tastefully Simple seasoning salt. Yum.

I make mine with alfredo sauce. Google it. Everyone loves it, including the kids. Good luck.

I second the disgust for GBC.

My dad hates mushrooms so his girlfriend makes it with cream of chicken soup instead. I don't care for the crunchy onions so I scoop from the center and it doesn't taste to bad.

You could also just make fresh greenbeans and have hollandaise sauce on the side.

I don't hate GBC but it's not my favorite side dish.
I don't have anything against cream of anything soups either - I use them in casseroles all the time.
You could always make what was requested and just don't eat any.
No one says you have to eat what you made/brought.
Other people liked it enough that there has been a specific request for it (although I would've loved the roast veggies).
A veggie casserole is just a way to get people to eat veggies they normally wouldn't eat if they had to have them plain.

I've tried peoples favorite family recipe cranberry sauce with real cranberries and all sorts of stuff in it - they LOVE it - it's a Tradition they all look forward to every year!
It was interesting to try a taste of it but I hated it - I just like plain old cranberry jelly.

It's odd that the hostess was so specific.

I know what you mean about the canned soup. Add that to frozen green beans, and it's a mess!

here's a Rachael Ray version with real food. Her recipes are usually easy to make but you could do a trial run with just 1/4 of the quantity if you want. It calls for heavy cream or half & half, but you could use the reduced fat half & half and keep the calories down: http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=4297

I don't have a recipe for you, but maybe fresh veggies with mushrooms in a basic beschemal sauce? I think I spelled that wrong, sorry. I agree with you about the whole taste of GBC. I can't eat it anymore because I went gluten free, and it was the best reason to not be able to eat it! No more pretending I did :).

Good luck!

I feel the same way you do about it; it's disgusting. I wouldn't fix it. Here's how my NO would show up: "Ew, I hate that, and I wouldn't trust me to make a good one. What else would you like?"

I don't like GBC either. Or it's ugly sibling, sweet potato casserole! Marshmallows? Really? I much prefer the sweet potato casserole from Ruth's Chris Steakhouse... Super scrum dil!! It's a pain in the arse to make, but so worth it!

"100 Days of Real Food" has a FANTASTIC Green Bean Casserole alternative for you. It's only real ingredients. It's definitely more work, and be sure to read the directions all the way through (I think the beans need to be steamed beforehand). Anyway, it will cover what you need to bring and is a healthy alternative.

Btw, I love her site and cookbook. Awesome ideas on how to eliminate processed foods. Good luck!

I thought I was one of the few that HATE that can of soup and GBC. So gross. i love the onions and fresh green beans though.

I will admit that if asked to bring something specific I usually do it. It is such a non thinking dish that there is no way to screw it up more than it already is. Could you afford to bring both your favorite roasted veggies and the hosts request?

Could you trade with someone? They make the GBC and you make what ever they were assigned to make?

I don't have time to search for it now but I remember Pioneer Woman had a recipe that looked pretty good. Google it!

I like cream of mushroom soup. I like green beans. But not together. That dish looks like some one puked it up. Never actually tried it. The look is what stops me. Doesn't look hard to make soup green beans. Cook for a while. Then those onion things on top. I could cook it. Doesn't mean I will eat it.