Every year I try to jazz up our Thanksgiving menu in some way or another. It's not acceptable in my family to change too many things. The trick is to adapt just one or two recipes that we'd be having anyways. There are foods you can't do this with (the turkey, my grandmother's sweet potato casserole), and then there are things that you can sneak a few extras in without anyone really noticing unless it doesn't turn out well. I will warn you when doing this that you're around family, and family is perfectly comfortable sharing opinions on food, so change recipes at your own risk.

Last year I made this homemade green bean casserole. It was delicious, but not necessarily worth the work for a group who would be perfectly happy with the standard canned beans, cream of mushroom soup and french fried potatoes recipe. My grandmother also didn't understand why we served "uncooked" beans in our green bean casserole (see statement at the end of previous paragraph). We explained the difference between haricot verts and canned green beans to her, but it went in one ear and out the other.

This year I saw a recipe in Cooking Light for Green Beans with Sherried Mushroom Sauce. If you haven't experimented with adding sherry to recipes you are missing out. I didn't realize my love for it until I put two and two together and realized that's what gives She Crab soup part of its kick. Now I want to add sherry to everything.

Unfortunately one thing my family doesn't do on Thanksgiving is anything "light"...so we used a different recipe that had many of the same components and added sherry instead of white wine. This recipe also has all sorts of delicious, unhealthy things like cheese, a roux and heavy cream. I'm not claiming it's healthy, but it's delicious. We bought the big bags of green beans from Costco which made things much easier. You can find steamer bags in the fridge section of the grocery store. This recipe called for homemade french fried onions, but we bought French's instead. I'll pretend we did that to preserve tradition...but really it was just for an easy shortcut.

Enjoy!

Sherried Mushroom Scratch Made Green Bean Casserole
Recipe adapted from Serendipity doo-dah

3 steamer bags green beans, blanched, drained and cut in thirds
1 pound mushrooms, sliced (your choice)
1 yellow onion, diced
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 tablespoon fresh)
1/2 cup sherry
2 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan and Asiago cheeses, mixed together

Make soup:
Sautee mushrooms, onions and thyme in cooking oil.
Season with salt and pepper. When lightly caramelized, deglaze pan with sherry. Once it evaporates, add chicken stock. Bring to boil.

To make the roux, melt the butter over medium heat. Once it begins to melt and turn frothy, stir in a tablespoon or so of the flour (it should slightly bubble). Whisk in remaining flour and continue whisking until the mixture thickens and turns the color of peanut butter.

Stir roux into mushroom mixture, a bit at a time until it turns into cream soup thickness. Take off heat, pour in cream, and stir.

Place drained beans in bowl, mix in 1/4 cup of the Parmesan and Asiago cheese mixture, and soup. Pour into greased dish and refrigerate.

Assembly and baking: Sprinkle beans with remaining cheese, then top with onion straws. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes or until crispy and bubbling.

*And if you want to make your own french fried onions:

Ingredients
1 large white onion, sliced into paper thin rounds
2 cups flour
Oil for frying
Salt & pepper

Put oil in large heavy pot. Heat on medium until it comes up to 350 degrees. Dredge sliced onions in heavily seasoned flour and shake off excess. Fry in small batches until golden brown and crispy. Sprinkle with salt and drain on paper towels. 

*To blanch, shock the green beans in ice immediately after cooking to stop them from cooking more.

Sorry for the harsh lighting on these. There's only a limited amount of time to take pictures when you have a table full of hungry people waiting!

Holy cheesus. Of all the grilled cheeses I've had in my life (which is a lot), this is hands down one of the best. I was headed out the door to grab lunch with the bf on Saturday when he asked, "Wait, do you have any good sandwich recipes you've been meaning to make?" Hah. Two seconds later I had pulled up 10 bookmarked recipes and photos for him to pick from on my phone. It's embarrassing how overeager I get about food choices. So, we picked two and this was one of them. They were both amazing. Just as good, if not better, than any deli we would've gone to for lunch. I'll post the other later in the week when I get the chance to make it again.

I used 8oz of a fontina/gruyere combo cheese I found in the fancy cheese section of Harris Teeter. I don't remember the brand, but anything along the lines of gruyere and/or fontina will be great. The deli cheeses are pricey, but 8oz was enough for five sandwiches (five super cheesy sandwiches). I know shredding cheese seems like a bit of a hassle, but the payoff is huge. Pre-shredded cheese doesn't melt as well. The same goes for the extra work caramelizing onions requires. It's worth it.

The sweetness of the onions, the creaminess of the cheese and the crunch of the bread all come together in perfect sandwich bliss. Ah. It's obvious I loved it considering I made it twice in less than 36 hours. Go ahead and move this to the top of your lunchtime "to-make" list. You'll be happy you did!

French Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Recipe adapted from The Kitchen Life of a Navy Wife
Makes 4-5 Sandwiches

2 yellow onions, halved and sliced thinly
2 tablespoons butter
dash of salt
8 oz fontina/gruyere cheese, shredded
1 loaf sourdough bread or wheat bread, sliced (use the groceries bakery bread and have them slice it)
1 ounce softened butter, for the bread

Directions

1. In a heavy sauce pan melt the butter and toss the onions to coat. Season with a little bit of salt and cook on medium heat till caramelized and brown, stirring frequently, about 6-8 minutes. Be patient. Once caramelized remove from heat and set aside.

2. Butter two pieces of bread. Place one slice butter side down in a greased skillet. And add a few tablespoons of the onions and roughly 2oz cheese. Place the other slice on top and lightly press down with a spatula to make sure the sandwich comes together. Cook over medium heat until browned on both sides.

This is 4oz shredded cheese and one onion. As you can see they go a long way!

Bad kitchen lighting, sorry!

If you choose to rip your sandwich apart...