Holiday Specials

[CtznCane]

A few years back there was an interesting thread at the holidays on Green Bean Casserole, Mac & Cheese, and other holiday classic or not so classic dishes. This is meant to be a new thread and hopefully it won't get merged as the past is past and this is 2008 and our appreciation or despise for dishes has changed as we have changed. Have our tastes changed and how? Are we more tolerant? Has time made us actually crave some of these dishes purely for nostalgia's sake if nothing else? Have threads on EG and elsewhere inspired us to take some of these old standards and kick em up a notch or three? Let's see.

Until the thread a few years ago, while it was a staple at family gatherings I never tried Green Bean Casserole (hereafter just called GBC) much. Did I say try it much? As a kid I more or less avoided it like a plague. As a young adult I ventured to try it, and now, depending on the version, I've even come to enjoy it.

Isn't GBC the classic of meals that can be made strictly from canned goods? What can be done to create the ultimate GBC? Can this dish be gourmet? Can you make it without canned ingredients (and still keep the spirit of it.) If you had to use at least 1 canned good in it, to keep it as an original, what would that ingredient be?

I wonder too if GBC is more prevalent in certain areas of the country? My wife and I have just (this month) moved to Kentucky from the SF Bay Area, and already I've seen GBC at 2 restaurants. One version (at the Country Club) was actually quite tasty. I must clarify though, the everyday GBC's are a bit different than that classic holiday dish many of us grew up with.

Perhaps we should have an EG GBC challenge for the best GBC. Of course recipes with stories carry more weight.

I was going to bring up Mac and Cheese as another of the holdiay favorites. M&C that I grew up with was very plain. Then again, plain old M&C has got to be one of the best plain dishes I know of. Let's face it, perhaps it has been done, but other than burning it, can you really screw up M&C? On the other end of things, what is the high end of M&C? I think I remember a couple seasons ago the one guy on Top Chef doing an upscale M&C. I've heard mention on the radio of other creative high end M&C's. So what is the story there?

Bottom line, GBC, M&C or something else? What dishes are in your holiday past, present and future?

[Lilija]

First: I have had some VASTLY screwed up homemade M&C, don't underestimate people... everything from squashy overcooked noodles, to dry clumpy stringy cheese, to chunks of only God-knows-what within. It's one of my all time favorite dishes (though not a holiday tradition, really) but it's fairly easy to mess up, I think.

Two dishes that find their way to most holiday meals, if not all all of them, are tomato pudding, and creamed baby onions. They're both usually fixed in small amounts, and eaten sorta like relishes, since they're both so rich, in different ways.

For the creamed onions, I buck traditon, and make a sharper, less pasty, lighter version. I saute the onions slowly till they're melty and light gold, then make a veloute sauce, with a swirl of cream, and dijon, to finish. The bechamel version is too much, with a huge meal.

The tomato pudding is like a very intensely tomatoey, lightly sweet, spicy bread pudding. It cuts right through and almost cleanses the palate.

These aren't ancient family traditions, though, just ones we started ourselves 11-12 years ago, I guess. We don't really have any old traditions. Also, these two things are exclusive to holiday meals. Not intentionally, I don't think, but that's the way it seems to be.

Edited December 16, 2008 by Lilija (log)

[CtznCane]

M&C just seems so hard to screw up and I guess I'm even tolerant to the botched ones if I'm in a hungry enough state, and yes, while at the holidays it is a year round dish as well.

The onions sound great and traditions always start somewhere and 11 years sounds like a good start.

I'm not familiar with tomato pudding but that sounds like a dish I'd like to try.

[Doodad]

I get asked to do GBC at the holidays since I made an upscale version a few years ago.

I make a cream of mushroom soup the day before with the best mix of mushrooms I can find.

Then I blanch the beans, lay in the casserole and pour in the soup to just the top of the beans. While that is baking down, I carmelize onions. When the onions are browned, I coat them in panko and parm. Onions on top for the last ten minutes and good to go.

[judiu]

GBC for me! Make a rich cream sauce with great mushrooms, fresh or frozen whole green beans, and the canned onion rings (which I adore and will eat straight up), just to keep the spirit. Maybe more minced onion in the cream sauce, maybe also a little cheese and or breadcrumbs on the top for texture. Also gotta have mashed rutabaga with tons of butter and a good bit of pepper.

[suzilightning]

GBC for me! Make a rich cream sauce with great mushrooms, fresh or frozen  whole green beans, and the canned onion rings (which I adore and will eat straight up), just to keep the spirit. Maybe more minced onion in the cream sauce, maybe also a little cheese and or breadcrumbs on the top for texture. Also gotta have mashed rutabaga with tons of butter and a good bit of pepper.

←

i'm with you on this. have made it several times for the poughkeepsie crew. it tastes so much better using a mix of cremini and shitake mushrooms with just that smallest scrape of nutmeg in the sauce.

mac and cheese for us is not a holiday dish. i do do a small dish of mixed creamed onions - mini red, mini white and cippollini. unfortunately only my mil and i will eat these. for everyone else they are too exotic.

[tino27]

GBC! My nemesis growing up! About 5 years ago I decided that I had had it with the "original" version and decided to make an all from-scratch version. Essentially there are only three components: the green beans, the mushroom bechamel, and the crunchy topping. One of the cool things about this dish is that I can do everything in one pan, my saucier.

First, the green beans. Trim the ends and cut into bite-sized pieces. The first version I left the beans whole and it was a mess to serve and eat the beans. Next blanch in heavily salted water for 3 minutes and place into ice water to quickly chill the beans. Do this in batches so as not to overcrowd your pan. After cooled, place onto several layers of paper towel to absorb the excess water.

For the bechamel I first start by re-hydrating about an ounce of dried porcini mushrooms with boiling water. I also use fresh shiitake and button mushrooms. In my saucier, I add some grapeseed oil and toss in my fresh, cut up mushrooms, after a minute or two I'll add several minced garlic cloves and a couple of minced shallots. Saute until the mushrooms start to give up their juice. At this point I'll add seasoning, the reconstituted porcinis (chopped up if necessary) and some fresh thyme. Cook until almost all of the liquid from the mushrooms evaporates. Set aside on a plate.

In the same pan, add your butter (or oil) and flour to make a roux. Whisk for a minute or two to cook the flour. Then I add 2% milk and the strained porcini soaking liquid to the roux. Bring to a boil to fully thicken. You want it to be a consistency that is heavier than a sauce. Add the sauteed mushrooms back in and a pinch or so of freshly ground nutmeg if you desire. Re-season for thyme, salt & pepper. Combine green beans and bechamel and place in casserole dish. At this point you could let it cool to room temp, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight (which is what I normally do).

The final component is the topping. I use my food processor to pulverize about 5-6 slices of sandwich bread (white or whole wheat). To this I add some freshly grated parmesan cheese (the real stuff, not the green can), some more fresh thyme and fresh rosemary (that's been finely chopped). At this point you could put this in an airtight container and placed in the fridge overnight.

The last step before baking is to moisten the bread crumb topping with some extra virgin olive oil. Just enough until the topping looks slightly "wet". Spread over the top of the casserole and place in a 375 deg oven for about 20 minutes covered with foil. Uncover and let finish browning up for another 10 minutes.

Obviously if you are making and baking the casserole right away, there is no need to keep the bread topping separate from the rest of the casserole.

The first year I made this, my grandmother, who epitomizes the target demographic for all of Campbell's soup products, actually asked me for the recipe. Even the die hard old-school GBC fans in my family had to admit that this tasted better. Clearly this takes longer to throw together than the original version, but as a once or twice a year kind of thing, it is so well worth the time and effort. Plus, you can totally do the component parts a day ahead and just assemble and bake on the day of dinner.

I've actually dubbed my version NYMGBC -- Not Your Momma's Green Bean Casserole.

[CtznCane]

I really like the idea but the one old time ingredient I'm most inclined to keep are those canned fried onions. Just something about them. I'm starting to think that perhaps NYE I may do an old classic (using the term loosely) all can version of GBC, and upscale all fresh GBC, some M&C, and toss in a tuna noodle casserole with crushed potato chip topping. Have it be sort of a retro-eve night.

[Lilija]

Last year, for the Very Boring Party, I brought a bunch of retro appies. Stuff that people remembered as popular in the 70s. Meatballs in a slow cooker, little cocktail weenies, Chex mix, cheese ball, finger sandwiches, and they went over all so amazingly well. Comfort finger foods, I guess. I didn't bring one bit home, it was gone.