Green bean Casserole... Germany style

I attended a recipe exchange- so much fun!

I was assigned a side-dish to bring and share... SO I decided to give homemade cream of mushroom sauce a try... so I could attempt a green bean casserole.

This is what I did.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

• 4 cups button mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 3/4 cups vegetable stock
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 1 pinch dried basil
• 2 -3 tablespoons cream
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• fresh basil leaf, to garnish

This includes ingredients for the green bean casserole portion as well :) 

1.  Pull the caps away from the mushroom stalks.

2.  Finely slice the caps and chop the stalks, keeping the 2 piles separate.

3.  Heat the oil and half the butter in a heavy based saucepan and add the chopped onion, mushroom stalks and 1/2-3/4 of the sliced mushroom caps.

4.  Fry about 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, and then cover and sweat over a gentle heat for 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5.  Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. 

6.  Gradually add the stock and milk to make a smooth, thin sauce.

7.  Add the basil, and season with salt and pepper.

8.  Bring to the boil and then simmer, partly covered, for 15 minutes.

9.  Allow to cool slightly and then pour into a food processor or blender (I use an immersion blender) and process until smooth.

10.  Melt remaining butter in a heavy based frying pan, and fry the remaining mushrooms over a gentle heat for 3-4 minutes until they are just tender.

11.  Pour soup into a large clean saucepan and stir in sliced mushrooms.

12.  Heat until very hot but not boiling and add salt and pepper to taste.

13.  Add the cream. (Make your own cream at: http://www.thecomfortofcooking.com/2011/12/10-tips-to-simplify-baking.html

This is what mine looked like done! And I just tasted it... sooooo yummy!

Green Bean Casserole (my mom's recipe, adapted to ingredients I have in Germany!)

• 1/2 Bag of frozen (or fresh) green beans (or 2 cans if you can find cans!)
• 30 oz of Cream of Mushroom Soup (see above) (or 2 cans if you can find cans!)
• 1 T Soy Sauce

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F (177 C)

2.  Put drained beans in a casserole dish.

3.  Add Soy Sauce to the Cream of Mushroom soup and heat (if it's not heated already).

4.  Pour mixture over green beans.

5. Cook for about 10 minutes in the oven.

6. Sprinkle top with french onions (Röstzwiebeln in Germany) or make your own.

7.  Bake for another 10 minutes or until the fried onions are lightly browned.

8.  Eat! Yummmmmm.