Dutch Farmer's Cheese Soup

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, diced
• 1 1/2-pound cauliflower, trimmed, cut into florets
• 1 pound carrots, peeled, sliced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 cups (or more) canned vegetable broth

• 6 1-inch-thick French bread slices
• 12 ounces Gouda cheese, wax removed, cheese sliced

Preparation

Melt butter in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add potatoes, cauliflower, carrots and onion; sauté until onion is golden brown, about 7 minutes. Add 4 cups broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer until vegetables are tender, adding more broth if soup is too thick, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before continuing.)

Preheat broiler. Transfer soup to large broilerproof bowl or individual broilerproof soup bowls. Arrange bread slices atop soup. Place cheese slices over, covering bread completely. Broil 6 inches from heat source until cheese melts and is golden, watching closely to avoid burning, about 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

Best Ever Green Bean Casserole

I am not a big fan of the canned green beans/cream of mushroom soup/french fried onions version of the green bean casserole, but we tried this recipe this year, and it is now my favorite Thanksgiving dish (it really doesn't take that much longer).

(stolen from Alton Brown)

Topping:

2 medium yellow or brown onions, thinly sliced

1/4 C flour

2 T bread crumbs

1 t Kosher salt

For the beans and sauce:

2T plus 1t Kosher salt, divided

1 lb fresh green beans, rinsed, trimmed and halved

2 T butter

12 oz mushrooms, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 t pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 t nutmeg

2 T flour

1 C chicken broth

1 C half and half

Preheat oven to 475 F.

Coat an aluminum baking sheet w/ cooking spray.

Place all topping ingredients into a large mixing bowl and toss to combine. Evenly spread the mixture on the cooking sheet. Bake until golden brown, approx 30 minutes, tossing 2-3 times during cooking. When they are done, remove from oven and set aside. Reduce oven to 400 degrees.

While the onions are cooking, bring a gallon of water + 2 T salt to a boil in a large pot. Blanch the beans for 5 minutes, drain, then shock them in ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.

Melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the butter, mushrooms, 1 t salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms start to release liquid (4-5 minutes). Add garlic and nutmeg, cook 1-2 minutes. Sprinkle flour over the mixture and stir to combine. Add chicken broth. Simmer for 1 minute. Decrease the heat to medium low and add the half and half. Cook until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat. Stir in 1/4 of the onions and all of the green beans. Transfer to an oven safe dish. Top w/ remaining onions and cook until bubbly, approx 15 minutes.

Happy Thanksgiving!