Bacon and Gruyère Green Bean Casserole

Here in the Midwest, this recipe has one serious mistake. (Insert smiley face icon here!) This is the one time of the year many of us ever eat/have in our kitchen those very processed things called "French Fried Onions." Ritz crackers? Bread crumbs? Why even bother to make this!?!

A few notes:

6 oz grated Gruyère made 2 cups for me, not 1.5 cups.

Creme fraîche at my supermarket comes in 7 oz containers, so I add 1 oz (2 Tbsp) sour cream to make up the difference.

Next time I'm going to use a salad spinner to dry the cooked beans before using a towel for the last bit.

I suggest cutting the beans to 1"-2" lengths instead of just in half: easier to eat.

The recipe filled a 3-qt pot and would not have fit a 2.5-qt pot (and certainly not a 2-qt pot).

My mother's recipe, in Ohio 50 years ago, did not contain canned soup or canned mushrooms or ritz crackers. It was made from scratch with fresh mushrooms, fresh frenched string beans, a cream sauce made with cheddar cheese, no bacon, and crunchy water chestnuts. A delicious recipe, that the food companies ruined so no one even remembers what the original was! Ms. Shulman has gotten us most of the way back to the original. Thank you, but I'll still make my mother's version.

I'd cook the component parts the day before, but assemble it just before cooking on the day. If you assemble it a day before, there's a likelihood that the acid in the sauce will adversely change the texture and color of the beans.

I've done it both ways - assembled the day before and assembled the day of. When I did it the day before, so much liquid had seeped into the bottom of the dish. It was a watery mess. What I find works best is to cook all the ingredients individually the day before and then assemble the morning of.

FOR SEVERAL SIMPLE RECIPES FOR CREME FRAICHE, check out http://www.allaboutfasting.com/creme-fraiche-recipe.html

Creme Fraiche Recipe I is the most prevalent recipe for homemade creme fraiche:

1 cup heavy cream, not ultra-pasteurized
1 tablespoon buttermilk, sour cream, store-bought creme fraiche, or creme fraiche from a previous batch

Mix both ingredients in a clean, lidded container. Let sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours, then refrigerate.

And it's simply wonderful. I tested this for thanksgiving day and it's going on the menu right next to the bacon and Brussels sprouts!

I admit to a major substitution: nobody in my family really likes green beans, but most of us like broccoli, so I use broccoli instead of green beans. The casserole is still a delicious side dish. No bacon -- we have vegetarians -- and I do use french fried onions, however the creamy, cheesy sauce rather than gelid gray canned soup makes this one of the most popular side dishes on the table.

This dish was the hit of our holiday dinner. I think it tasted even better the next day. The next time I make this, I plan to prepare it the day before, let it sit in the fridge overnight, and then bake it off the day of, which will give the flavors even more time to meld.

Any thoughts on making this ahead the night before?

Great recipe! I made with following variations: deglaze shallots and mushrooms with healthy splash of vermouth to capture caramelized bacon; admixture of parmesan with gruyere cheeses; panko for bread crumbs - sprinkled on dry and topped with melted butter. Wonderful!!

This was a great dish for those of us who did not grow up on green bean casserole and for those that did.

I've tried many, many different versions of this casserole made from scratch with higher end ingredients. None of them are nearly as tasty as the original made with Campbell's mushroom soup (no other brand), frozen french cut string beans, and canned fried onions (what bread crumbs?)

I made this for Thanksgiving and couldn't wait to make it again for Christmas. It's way, way better and more refined than the canned soup recipe, but somehow still satisfies my craving for it. I melted the butter for the breadcrumbs with a smashed garlic clove, but otherwise stuck to the recipe. Like others noted, I can only get crème fraîche in a 7 oz container, but that amount was sufficient.

It wouldn't be the same. A better substitution for creme fraîche is sour cream.