Day 13 of our Advent Culinary Calendar and we’ve reached a recipe based on an American Thanksgiving staple with a French/British twist. The actual Bean Casserole for Thanksgiving, based on my research, would usually feature Mushrooms (forgive me if I’m wrong. All of my information came from basic internet research) but instead I decided to allow the flavour of the beans and peas to really shine. If you want a sharper cheese try Cheddar or for a nuttier taste try a cheese like Comte for a slightly different finish.
Ingredients:
- 400ml Good Quality Vegetable Stock
- 40g Butter
- 40g Plain Flour
- 150g Frozen French Beans
- 150g Large Frozen Peas
- ½ Lemon, juiced
- ½ tsp Nutmeg Powder
- 100g Emmental Cheese, grated, optional
Method:
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees C/Gas Mark 6.
- Pour your stock into a pan and bring to a boil.
- Add your peas and beans to the stock and cook for one minute.
- Strain your peas and beans through a sieve but put the stock back into the pan.
- Put your sieve of peas and beans in a bowl of cold water. Set to the side whilst you get on with the sauce.
- Put your stock back on the hob, on a low heat.
- Get another medium pan and put it on a medium-high heat.
- Put butter in a pan and allow to melt.
- Add your flour and stir. Keep cooking and stirring your flour and butter mixture until it turns light brown and smells nutty. This is your blonde roux.
- Add a ladleful of stock and stir until it’s all disappeared into the roux.
- Continue adding and mixing in a ladleful of stock until you reach the consistency of double cream.
- Take off the heat, check the seasoning and season it to taste.
- Add in your peas and beans. Mix together.
- Pour into an oven-proof dish.
- Sprinkle over your cheese.
- Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
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