Broccoli Casserole

Another holiday dish that I came across recently was the green bean casserole where the green beans are in a cream of mushroom sauce and topped with a french fried onion topping. I had really enjoyed it the first time that I had made it and I was looking forward to making it again. Since I had started the "switching it up" theme with the pumpkin sweet potato casserole I thought that I would try a broccoli green bean casserole. The cream of mushroom sauce is my favorite part of this recipe and this time I thought that I would try adding a bit of extra flavour to it with some fresh thyme and a splash of sherry.

The last time that I made the green bean casserole I made everything from scratch but this time I decided to save time and use the canned french fried onions. The broccoli casserole tasted great! It did however seem a bit dry... Even looking at the picture it looks too dry for supposedly being in a cream of mushroom sauce. I realize now that I accidentally only used half of the stock and cream that the recipe called for. Given that I did not realize my error until now and that I really enjoyed both the casserole and its leftovers it turned out pretty good anyways. I will definitely be making this again and I will be playing around with the amount of liquid in the cream of mushroom sauce. (Isn't it fun testing different versions of your favorite recipes trying to get them just right?)

Ingredients:
1 pound broccoli (trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces)
1 tablespoon butter
1 8 ounce package crimini mushrooms (quartered)
2 cloves garlic (grated)
1 teaspoon thyme (chopped)
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 slice whole grain bread
1 tablespoon butter
salt and pepper to taste
1 handful french fried onions
1 handful almond slivers (toasted)

Directions:
1. Steam the broccoli until just tender.
2. Chill the broccoli in ice water to stop the cooking process.
3. Melt the butter in a pan.
4. Add the mushrooms, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and saute until the mushrooms start to release their moisture, about 5 minutes.
5. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute.
6. Add the chicken stock and heavy cream and simmer until it thickens, about 10-15 minutes.
7. Stir in the broccoli.
8. Pour the mixture into an 8x8 inch baking dish.
9. Pulse the bread, butter, salt and pepper in a food processor to combine.
10. Stir in the onions and almonds.
11. Pour the onion and almond mixture over the broccoli mixture.
12. Bake in a preheated 400F oven for 15 minutes.

Similar Recipes:
Green Bean Casserole
Broccoli Gratin
Blue Cheese Green Bean Casserole