homemade green bean and bacon casserole

by tijuana, 11/24/2013

we all hear the horror stories of green bean casseroles. people who hate canned soups. people who hate canned green beans. we even hear from the people who can not even stand the thought of it. so, i was not surprised when i asked some readers on my facebook page if they like it or not, and there were a lot of 'no's'. however, there were a lot of people who were willing to try it, if it was made a different way. so, i accepted the challenge of trying to transform the green bean casserole into something that may grab the attention of even the...'get that nasty mess outta my face' green bean casserole haters. i did not play fair and threw in some bacon. how dare i? yes, i did it and i am SO glad i did. my family tackled this casserole right when it came out of the oven. it did not stand a chance. we stood there in the kitchen with nothing but forks and that casserole dish. it was GOOD.

total Time: 35 minutes
prep time: 15 minutes
cook time: 20 minutes
yield: 4 servings

ingredients:

1 lb fresh green beans - ends trimmed
4 slices of bacon - chopped into squares
1/2 onion - chopped
2 cloves garlic - minced
3 tablespoons flour -
1 1/3 cup milk -
3/4 cup french's onions -

instructions:

preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
bring a large pot of water to a boil. salt the water generously and add the green beans.

stir and let them cook for about 3-4 minutes and immediately move them to a large bowl of ice water.

allow them to cool completely. drain the beans in a strainer and set aside.
in a large pan, add the bacon.

cook the bacon until almost crispy.

add the onions and garlic into the bacon.

stir to combine. saute for a few minutes until onions are slightly tender.

sprinkle the flour over the bacon and onion mixture.

stir for a couple minutes to cook off the flour taste.
gradually add in the milk while stirring, to create the sauce. taste and season the sauce with salt/pepper until seasoned.