The Virtual Gourmand: Column No. 6c

November 16, 2006

CW Contributing Editor and Executive Chef Jason Clabaugh, having answered frequently-asked questions about deep-frying and brining turkeys, turns his attention to the preparation of favorite holiday side dishes in this third of a multi-part Thanksgiving special.

Part III: Something on the Side

OK...I think we can safely say we know what we're doing with the bird. But what are we going to serve as side dishes? In this installment, I'm going to pass along some of my and my family's favorites that are perennially on the holiday table.

Green Bean Casserole

Fresh green beans and a hearty, creamy cream of mushroom soup makes this casserole way better than one made with canned ingredients.

This has been a holiday tradition in many homes since the recipe was rolled out by the Campbell Soup Company in 1955. The original contains canned or frozen green beans, condensed cream of mushroom soup, and French-fried onions topping the mixture. Recently I ran across a new method of preparing the dish in an issue of Cook's Illustrated I have decided that I like it so much better that it will be the only way I make the dish from now on.

Casserole foundation:

2 lb Fresh green beans, trimmed and snapped
3 Tbl unsalted butter
1 lb White button mushrooms, broken into ½ inch pieces
3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed
Ground black pepper
3 Tbl all-purpose flour
1-½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
1-½ cups heavy cream

Topping:

¾ cup bread crumbs (Japanese Panko crumbs work really well, otherwise, skip the seasoned variety)
2 Tbl unsalted butter, softened
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
3 cups canned fried onions (about 6 oz)

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

Fill a large bowl with ice water. Bring 4 quarts of water and 2 Tbl salt and bring to a full boil in a Dutch oven. Add beans and boil for six minutes. Drain beans and shock them in the ice water bath. Drain beans and spread out on paper-towel-lined baking sheet to drain.

Add 3 Tbl Butter to now empty Dutch oven and melt until foaming subsides. Add mushrooms, garlic, ¾ tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper; cook until mushrooms release moisture and liquid evaporates (about 6 minutes). Add flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add broth and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Add cream, reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce is thickened and reduced to 3-½ cups (about 12 minutes). Season to taste.

Add green beans to sauce and stir until evenly coated. Arrange in an even layer in a 13" x 9" baking dish.

Make topping by stirring melted butter, salt, pepper into bread crumbs until combined. Add onions and combine. Top casserole with mixture and bake until topping is golden-brown and sauce is bubbling around the edges, about 15 minutes. Serve Immediately.

You can make the beans and sauce and the topping separately ahead of time and combine them just before going into the oven.

Orange-Cranberry Sauce

As simple as this cranberry sauce is to make and as tasty as it is, why ever use the canned stuff again?

I remember getting this recipe over the Internet several years ago, but I honestly have no idea where it came from. It is quick, easy and able to be made ahead (a real plus in the Thanksgiving preparations). I've made a few of my own tweaks to it over the last few years, but it is always requested by my son.

Two 8 oz packages fresh cranberries
Zest of one orange, remaining orange cut in half, juice squeezed into pot and remaining hull added to mixture
½ cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
jigger of Grand Marnier or Cointreau
jigger of cognac

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pot and simmer over medium heat until cranberries burst and sauce thickens (roughly 15-20 minutes). Remove orange halves and cinnamon stick and refrigerate.

Grandma Workman's Oyster Dressing

Great-Grandma Workman's oyster dressing is more than a tradition in my family. It is a legend.

My Great Grandma Workman was one of a kind. Divorced from a cheating husband in the 1920s (when divorce was highly stigmatized) she managed to raise 6 children to adulthood (2 died as children) as a single parent working as a cook. She's fondly remembered not only for her cooking, but for the unconditional love she shared with her family. About ten years ago, my mom and I solicited recipes from her surviving family members and collected them in a self-published book. As it turns out Grandma wrote few recipes down, but if you called her on the phone she'd dictate it to you. It's a good thing we did this project or many if not most of these recipes would be lost to us today. This was one that she did write down, and the level of spattering on it reflects how well-used it was.

Into a greased, 10" x 6" x 1-½" baking dish, layer:

¾ cup dry bread crumbs (preferably Pepperidge Farms), ½ bread crumbs and ½ Ritz cracker crumbs
½ pint (1 cup) fresh oysters, drained (liquid reserved) and chopped
¼ cup minced parsley
½ cup chopped celery
season with salt and pepper to taste.
Dot with pats of butter

Repeat for a second layer.

Pour over top:

1/3 cup oyster liquid
1/3 cup cream

Bake at 450 degrees about 30 minutes. Serves 4-6.

Grandma Workman's "Fly Off The Plate" Rolls

These rolls will live up to their name and truly "Fly Off The Plate"!

This was another of her more popular recipes. The instructions are simple enough that I believe even a novice baker can make them with no problem. There's nothing like fresh dinner rolls to compliment a great meal. Don't short your holiday table with canned crescent rolls when you can have these light, fluffy yeast rolls instead.

2 cups hot water
3 Tbl butter or margarine
3 tsp salt
2 pkgs Active Dry Yeast
½ cup sugar
½ cup warm water
7 cups flour

Pour hot water over sugar, salt and butter in a large mixing bowl.

Add 2 cups flour and beat until smooth.

Dissolve yeast in warm water (not over 110 degrees). Add to above mixture. When mixture cools to a lukewarm temperature, add balance of flour. Mix well. Knead well and place in greased bowl. Cover with a clean dishtowel and allow to double in size. Punch down, shape into rolls, and place in greased pan. Allow mixture to rise and double in bulk again. Bake at 375 degrees, 18-20 minutes. Serve hot with plenty of butter.

These are some of my family's favorite recipes for holiday sides. In the next (and final) installment, I'll give you some of my closest-held dessert secrets.

Contributing Editor and CW Executive Chef Jason Clabaugh (BigO) hailed from New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina devastated the city and has settled in a suburb of Atlanta. With the addition of a new baby to his family he's refocused his energies on fatherhood and a new project bringing his famous mango-habanero salsa and unique barbecue sauces into commercial production.