Just in time for Thanksgiving, we found a few side dish recipes and tips from local grocery stores and restaurants. Click here to view all the Thanksgiving All-Stars.

Green Bean Casserole

Joe Caputo & Sons shared their recipe for green bean casserole; they left out the boring cream of mushroom soup and French fried onions, and did something new.

Preparation takes 15 minutes, cooking time is 30 minutes, serves six.

Ingredients:

Two (9 ounce) packages frozen, cut green beans, thawed.

Ten slices of bacon. Oscar Mayer bacon is buy one, get one at Jewel-Osco in Des Plaines.

Ten small, fresh mushrooms, chopped.

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder.

1/2 teaspoon onion powder.

One cup of half-and-half cream.

1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Related: Baked Mashed Potatoes.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place green beans into a 1 quart or similar sized casserole dish.

2. Fry bacon in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat until browned and crispy. Remove to drain on paper towels. Drain off some of the grease, but leave enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Add mushrooms to the grease in the pan and season with garlic powder and onion powder. Cook and stir until tender, about four minutes.

3. Pour the half-and-half into the pan with the mushrooms and stir to scrape the bacon flavor from the bottom of the pan. Simmer until thickened slightly, about five minutes. Pour this mixture over the green beans. Crumble bacon over the top and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the sauce is bubbling and the top is toasted.

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