Saveur Cooks Authentic American - Editors Of Cook's Illustrated Magazine [53]
3 cups chicken stock
½ oz. dried shiitake mushrooms, stemmed Kosher salt, to taste
2 lbs. green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces Canola oil, for frying
1¼ cups flour
2 small yellow onions, thinly sliced
5 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/3 cup heavy cream Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Serves 6–8
1. Bring the stock to a boil in a small pot. Remove from the heat and add the dried mushrooms. Cover and let soften for about 20 minutes. Strain and reserve the broth. Thinly slice the mushrooms and set aside. Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the green beans and cook until tender, 6–7 minutes. Chill the beans in an ice bath, drain, and pat dry.
2. Pour oil into a large pot to a depth of 2 inches and heat over medium-high heat until a deepfry thermometer reads 350°F. Put 1 cup flour into a bowl. Working in batches, toss the onions in the flour, shake off the excess, and fry until golden brown, 3–4 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate and season with salt.
3. Heat the oven to 375°F. Grease an 8-inch square casserole with 1 tbsp. butter and set aside. Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the remaining flour and cook for 1 minute. While whisking, pour in the reserved broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened, 15–20 minutes. Whisk in the cream, remove from the heat, and add the reserved green beans, half the fried onions, the reserved mushrooms, and salt and pepper. Transfer to the prepared casserole, top with the remaining onions, and bake until bubbly, about 20 minutes. Serve warm.
A Recipe of Convenience
This casserole’s roots can be traced to midcentury America, a time and place that gave rise to a number of one-dish meals made with readily available and inexpensive ingredients. The version many of us grew up with was invented by the Campbell Soup Company in 1955 and called for a trinity of convenience foods: canned Durkee or French’s fried onions, Green Giant canned green beans, and Campbell’s condensed cream of mushroom soup. The recipe had been invented to fulfill a request from Cecily Brownstone, the prominent food editor at the Associated Press, who sought help in reproducing a dish she’d tasted at a press dinner. The dinner took place at the home of John Snively, a wealthy citrus rancher in Florida, and his wife, May. The conceit of the event was that the Snivelys had served a replica of the evening’s menu to Iranian royalty: Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi and his wife, Queen Soraya (pictured), who had recently paid a visit to the ranch. Mrs. Snively had presented a delicious green bean casserole made with cream sauce and mushrooms. The queen, Mrs. Snively told the assembled members of the press, had apparently loved the casserole and “had eaten [it] with gusto.” With that, Brownstone had her story and, thanks to some help from the Campbell Soup test kitchen, an easy-to-make recipe. The article she wrote was headlined “Beans Fit for an Iranian Queen,” and it sparked a national love affair with the dish. Over the years, the Campbell Soup Company has subtly altered the recipe, but the basics of the iconic dish have remained essentially unchanged.
Butter Risotto
Risotto alla Milanese
We usually think of olive oil when we think of Italian cuisine, but home cooks in Italy, particularly in the north, use plenty of butter, too. In Milan, for instance, they make this sumptuous risotto by sautéing rice in butter before simmering it in a saffron-infused stock, and then they stir in even more butter just before serving.
6 cups chicken stock
1/8 tsp. saffron threads
9 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 small yellow onion, minced
2 cups vialone or arborio rice
1 cup grated Grana Padano cheese
Serves 4
1. Bring the stock to a bare simmer in a saucepan over